area handbook series 

Belarus and Moldova 

country studies 




Belarus and Moldova 

country studies 

Federal Research Division 
Library of Congress 
Edited by 
Helen Fedor 
Research Completed 
May 1995 



On the cover: St. George, patron saint of Belarus, and 
antique Moldovan rug 



First Edition, First Printing, 1995. 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Belarus and Moldova : country studies / Federal Research 
Division, Library of Congress ; edited by Helen Fedor. — 
1st ed. 

p. cm. — (Area handbook series, ISSN 1057-5294) 
(DA Pam; 550-112) 

"Research completed May 1995." 

Includes bibliographical references (pp. 207-223) and 
index. 

ISBN 0-8444-0849-2 (he : alk. paper) 

Copy 3 Z663.275 .B45 1995 

1. Belarus. 2. Moldova. I. Fedor, Helen, 1957- . II. 
Library of Congress. Federal Research Division. III. 
Series. IV. Series: DA Pam ; 550-112. 
DK507.23.B45 1995 95-45993 
947'.65— dc20 CIP 



Headquarters, Department of the Army 
DA Pam 550-112 



For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 
Washington, D.C. 20402 



Foreword 



This volume is one in a continuing series of books prepared 
by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress 
under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program spon- 
sored by the Department of the Army. The last two pages of this 
book list the other published studies. 

Most books in the series deal with a particular foreign coun- 
try, describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and 
national security systems and institutions, and examining the 
interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are 
shaped by cultural factors. Each study is written by a multidisci- 
plinary team of social scientists. The authors seek to provide a 
basic understanding of the observed society, striving for a 
dynamic rather than a static portrayal. Particular attention is 
devoted to the people who make up the society, their origins, 
dominant beliefs and values, their common interests and the 
issues on which they are divided, the nature and extent of their 
involvement with national institutions, and their attitudes 
toward each other and toward their social system and political 
order. 

The books represent the analysis of the authors and should 
not be construed as an expression of an official United States 
government position, policy, or decision. The authors have 
sought to adhere to accepted standards of scholarly objectivity. 
Corrections, additions, and suggestions for changes from read- 
ers will be welcomed for use in future editions. 

Louis R. Mortimer 
Chief 

Federal Research Division 
Library of Congress 
Washington, DC 20540-5220 



iii 



Acknowledgments 



The authors are indebted to numerous individuals and orga- 
nizations who gave their time, research materials, and expertise 
on affairs in Belarus and Moldova to provide data, perspective, 
and material support for this volume. 

The collection of accurate and current information was 
assisted greatly by the contributions of Stephen R. Burant of 
the United States Department of State, Professor Thomas E. 
Bird of Queens College, Valery Kurdzyukou of the Embassy of 
the Republic of Belarus, A. James Firth of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, John Mumford of The Washington 
Group, Eugene Fishel of the United States Department of 
State, Professor Paul E. Michelson of Huntington College, Pro- 
fessor Ernest H. Latham, Jr., of the American-Romanian Acad- 
emy, Carmen Kosik, Raymond Milefsky of the Defense 
Mapping Agency, and Iurie Leanca of the Embassy of the 
Republic of Moldova. The authors also acknowledge the gener- 
osity of all the individuals who allowed their photographs to be 
used in this study. 

Thanks also go to Ralph K. Benesch, who oversees the Coun- 
try Studies/Area Handbook Program for the Department of 
the Army. In addition, the authors appreciate the advice and 
guidance of Sandra W. Meditz, Federal Research Division coor- 
dinator of the handbook series. Special thanks go to Marilyn L. 
Majeska, who supervised editing; Andrea T. Merrill, who per- 
formed the prepublication editorial review and managed pro- 
duction; David P. Cabitto, who designed the book cover and 
the illustrations on the title page of both chapters, provided 
graphics support, and, together with Thomas D. Hall and the 
firm of Maryland Mapping and Graphics, prepared the maps; 
Ihor Y Gawdiak, who provided historical background informa- 
tion; and Glenn E. Curtis, who critiqued the text. The follow- 
ing individuals are gratefully acknowledged as well: Vincent 
Ercolano and Janet Willen, who edited the chapters; Barbara 
Edgerton and Izella Watson, who did the word processing; 
Francine Cronshaw, who compiled the index; and David P. 
Cabitto, Stephen C. Cranton, and Janie L. Gilchrist, who pre- 
pared the camera-ready copy. 



Contents 



Page 

Foreword iii 

Acknowledgments v 

Preface xiii 

Introduction xix 

Chapter 1. Belarus 1 

Jan Zaprudnik and Helen Fedor 

CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS 3 

COUNTRY PROFILE 7 

HISTORICAL SETTING 13 

Early History 13 

Belorussia, Poland, and Catholicism 14 

The Partitions of Poland 15 

Early Belorussian Nationalism 15 

World War and Revolution 18 

Belorussian Territory under Poland 20 

World War II 21 

Stalin and Russification 23 

The Era of Perestroika 24 

Independent Belarus 25 

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 26 

Topography and Drainage 26 

Climate 28 

Environmental Concerns 29 

POPULATION AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION 30 

Population Characteristics 30 

Ethnic Composition 31 

LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE 33 

Language 33 

Religion 36 

Culture 39 

EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND WELFARE 41 

Education 41 

vii 



Health 41 

Welfare 42 

Housing 44 

THE ECONOMY 44 

Government Policy 46 

Privatization 46 

Agriculture 47 

Industry 52 

Mining 52 

Energy 53 

Labor Force 56 

Banking and Finance 56 

Transportation and Telecommunications 58 

Foreign Economic Relations 61 

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 64 

Prelude to Independence 65 

Problems of Democratization 69 

Government Structure 70 

Political Parties 75 

The Media 77 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 78 

Russia 79 

United States 80 

Ukraine 80 

Poland 81 

Lithuania 81 

Latvia 82 

NATIONAL SECURITY 82 

The Armed Forces 83 

The Defense Industry 87 

The Commonwealth of Independent States 88 

Russian Troops 88 

Internal Security 89 

Chapter 2. Moldova 93 

William E. Crowther and Helen Fedor 

CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS 95 

COUNTRY PROFILE 99 

HISTORICAL SETTING 105 

Early History 105 

The Beginning of the Soviet Period 106 



viii 



Territorial Changes in World War II 107 

Postwar Reestablishment of Soviet Control 107 

Increasing Political Self-Expression 108 

Secession of Gagauzia and Transnistria 110 

Independence Ill 

Progress Toward Political Accommodation Ill 

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 113 

Topography and Drainage 113 

Climate 114 

Environmental Concerns 114 

POPULATION AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION 115 

Population Characteristics 115 

Ethnic Composition 117 

LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE 121 

Language 121 

Religion 123 

Culture 124 

EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND WELFARE 126 

Education 126 

Health 127 

Welfare 127 

Housing 128 

THE ECONOMY 129 

The Economy in the Soviet Period 129 

Postindependence Privatization and 

Other Reforms 131 

Labor Force 133 

Agriculture 133 

Industry 136 

Energy and Fuels 138 

Banking and Finance 139 

Transportation and Telecommunications 140 

Foreign Trade 141 

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 144 

Governmental System 145 

Political Parties 149 

The 1990 Elections 152 

Political Developments in the Wake of the 

1990 Elections 155 

Conflict in Transnistria and Gagauzia 158 

ix 



Easing of Tensions 160 

Political Realignment 161 

The 1994 Elections and Afterward 162 

Human Rights 164 

The Media 166 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 166 

Commonwealth of Independent States 168 

Romania 168 

Russia 169 

Ukraine 173 

Turkey 173 

The West 174 

NATIONAL SECURITY 1 74 

The Armed Forces 176 

Internal Security 177 

Crime 177 

Appendix A. Tables 181 

Appendix B. The Minsk Agreement 191 

Appendix C. The Alma-Ata Declaration 195 

Appendix D. Declaration of Independence of the 

Republic of Moldova 203 

Bibliography 207 

Glossary 225 

Index 235 

Contributors 251 

List of Figures 

1 Belarus and Moldova: Geographic Setting, 1995 xviii 

2 Belarus, 1995 12 

3 The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus', and Samogitia 

at Its Greatest Extent, Early Fifteenth Century .... 16 

4 Russian and Prussian Acquisitions of Belarusian 

Territory in the Partitions of Poland, 1772-95 .... 17 

5 Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), 1922. ... 20 

6 Population of Belarus by Age and Gender, 1990 32 



x 



7 The Belarusian Language in the Family of Slavic 

Languages 34 

8 Economic Activity in Belarus, 1995 48 

9 Transportation System of Belarus, 1995 60 

10 Government Organization of Belarus, 1995 72 

11 Administrative Divisions of Belarus, 1995 76 

12 Moldova, 1995 104 

13 Historical Romanian-Speaking Regions in 

Southeastern Europe 108 

14 Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic 

(ASSR) and Transnistria, 1924-95 109 

15 Population Distribution of Moldavia by Age and 

Gender, 1990 116 

16 Estimated Population Distribution of Moldavia by 

Ethnic Group, 1989 118 

17 Estimated Population Distribution of Transnistria 

by Ethnic Group, 1989 118 

18 Ethnic Groups in Moldova 120 

19 Economic Activity in Moldova, 1995 130 

20 Net Material Product (NMP) of Moldova by 

Sector, 1991 134 

21 Transportation System of Moldova, 1995 142 

22 Government Organization of Moldova, 1995 146 

23 Administrative Divisions of Moldova, 1995 150 



xi 



Preface 



At the end of 1991, the formal liquidation of the Soviet 
Union was the surprisingly swift result of partially hidden 
decrepitude and centrifugal forces within that empire. Of the 
fifteen "new" states that emerged from the process, many had 
been independent political entities at some time in the past. 
Aside from their coverage in the 1991 Soviet Union: A Country 
Study, none had received individual treatment in this series, 
however. Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies is the second in a 
new subseries describing the fifteen post-Soviet republics, both 
as they existed before and during the Soviet era and as they 
have developed since 1991. This volume covers Belarus and 
Moldova, two nations on the western border of what was once 
the Soviet Union. 

The marked relaxation of information restrictions, which 
began in the late 1980s and accelerated after 1991, allows the 
reporting of extensive data on every aspect of life in the two 
countries. Scholarly articles and periodical reports have been 
especially helpful in accounting for the years of independence 
in the 1990s. The authors have described the historical, politi- 
cal, and social backgrounds of the countries as the background 
for their current portraits. However, in general, both Belarus 
and Moldova (especially the former) have been written about 
to a lesser extent than other former Soviet republics. In each 
case, the authors' goal in this book was to provide a compact, 
accessible, and objective treatment of five main topics: histori- 
cal setting, the society and its environment, the economy, gov- 
ernment and politics, and national security. 

In the case of Belarus, providing definitive spellings of per- 
sonal names or place-names has been a challenge. All names 
have been transliterated according to the transliteration 
scheme devised by the United States Board on Geographic 
Names (BGN), which is widely used by the United States gov- 
ernment, although not by the Library of Congress or in most 
scholarly works. According to the BGN system, most Cyrillic let- 
ters are transliterated similarly from both Belarusian and Rus- 
sian. But some letters are transliterated from the two languages 
differently (for example, "e," which remains "e" in transliter- 
ated Russian but becomes "ye" in transliterated Belarusian), 
and some letters exist in Belarusian but not in Russian. 



xiii 



Because Belarusian names often differ from the Russian ver- 
sions that have been used predominantly by the Russian 
Empire, the Soviet Union, and the world in general, the Rus- 
sian version is given in parentheses at the first occurrence of a 
name. Otherwise, the Belarusian names have been used 
throughout. The few exceptions to this are well-known names 
(such as Moscow) and words (such as perestroika) that have 
acquired a standardized spelling in English usage. 

Another problem in writing about Belarus is what to call it 
and when. In its early history, the region was known as "Belaya 
Rus'," "Belorussia," "White Ruthenia," or "White Rus'." (A num- 
ber of explanations have been proffered for the term "white.") 
As if this were not confusing enough, the terms "Rus"' and 
"Russia" have often been confused, sometimes deliberately. 
The original Rus' was Kievan Rus', which existed for centuries 
before Muscovy (which would later become Russia) gained sig- 
nificance. Russia later claimed to be the sole successor to 
Kievan Rus' and often blurred the line between the two. In the 
Russian language, both russkiy and rossiyskiy mean "Russian." 

During the time when Belarus was part of the Russian 
Empire and the Soviet Union, it was commonly known as 
Belorussia, and the language was known as Belorussian. Occa- 
sionally, nationalist groups would form and take a name that 
included the word "Belarusian," but this use of the word was 
the exception. It was only after the Supreme Soviet declared 
the country independent that the name was changed from the 
Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic of 
Belarus, despite the title of the earlier Declaration of State Sov- 
ereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. The policy 
in this volume has been to use "Belarus/Belarusian" in the ear- 
liest historical times; "Belorussia/Belorussian" while it was a 
part of either the Grand Duchy, Poland, the Russian Empire, or 
the Soviet Union; and "Belarus/Belarusian" after the country 
declared independence in August 1991. The exceptions are 
organization names in which "Belarus/Belarusian" was deliber- 
ately chosen over "Belorussia/Belorussian." 

For Moldova, the problem of personal names and place- 
names is somewhat different. When Moldovan, a dialect of the 
Romanian language, written in the Latin alphabet was desig- 
nated the official language of Moldavia in 1989, the Cyrillic 
alphabet (imposed by Joseph V. Stalin) was dropped, thus obvi- 
ating the need for transliteration. However, the Moldovan 
names appearing in the text of this volume are missing most of 



xiv 



the diacritics used by the language. In this case, it is a matter of 
lagging technology: the typesetting software being used simply 
cannot produce the necessary diacritics in the text (although 
they appear on the maps). For this the authors apologize and 
hope that by the time this country study is updated, missing 
diacritics will no longer be the norm. 

As was also the case with Belarus, Moldova and the Moldo- 
vans are referred to in different ways depending on the period 
of history. Until the creation of the Moldavian Autonomous 
Oblast (outside the traditional boundaries of Moldova) by Mos- 
cow in 1924, "Moldova" and "Moldovan" were the terms for the 
region and the language. From 1924 until the legislature 
changed the country's name officially in 1990, the terms used 
were "Moldavia" and "Moldavian." As with Belarus, the policy in 
this volume has been to adhere to these different names dur- 
ing their respective periods of usage, with the exceptions of 
names of organizations in which "Moldova/Moldovan" was 
deliberately chosen over "Moldavia/Moldavian." 

Measurements are given in the metric system; a conversion 
table is provided in Appendix A. A Chronology is provided at 
the beginning of each chapter. To amplify points in the text of 
the chapters, tables in Appendix A provide statistics on aspects 
of the societies and the economies of the countries. A Glossary 
provides information on certain terms in order to explain their 
background without creating distractions in the text. Chapter 
bibliographies appear at the end of the book; brief comments 
on some of the more valuable sources for further reading 
appear at the conclusion of each chapter. 

The body of the text reflects information available as of May 
1995. Certain other portions of the text, however, have been 
updated. The Introduction discusses significant events and 
trends that have occurred since the completion of research; 
the Chronologies and Country Profiles include updated infor- 
mation as available; and the Bibliography lists recently pub- 
lished sources thought to be particularly helpful to the reader. 



xv 



Introduction 



LOCATED ON THE WESTERN BORDERLANDS of the Rus- 
sian Empire and later the Soviet Union, the regions that would 
one day become the republics of Belarus and Moldova had 
long been part of a buffer zone used to protect Russia from 
Western influences and military forces. The imperial and 
Soviet governments attempted to fully integrate the two 
regions' economies into their own and to Russify their people 
in order to bind them seamlessly into their respective empires. 
For a long time, these efforts seemed to work, but in 1991 
Belarus and Moldova declared their independence from the 
Soviet Union and began to go their separate, post-Soviet ways. 
Independence was not a totally new experience for the two 
countries, however; each of them had existed briefly as a sover- 
eign entity during the previous hundred years, but this time 
they had much to undo from the previous regime. 

The two countries, former republics of the now-defunct 
Soviet Union, are a study in contrasts. Belarus, mostly ethnic 
Belarusian (and overwhelmingly Slavic) in population, had 
long been part of the Russian Empire and subsequently the 
Soviet Union. The tsars, and later the commissars, sought to 
meld Belorussia with Russia and the Belorussians with the Rus- 
sians. They succeeded to a remarkable extent: independent 
Belarus still identifies closely with Russia, and Belarusian 
nationalists are in the minority. Soviet-era political and eco- 
nomic structures, and even symbols, have been retained and 
even reintroduced, as was the case after the May 1995 referen- 
dum that brought back the Soviet-era flag and emblem (both 
slightly modified) and the Russian language. 

Moldova, a country that had also been part of both empires 
since the nineteenth century, has a majority population of eth- 
nic Romanians, who are not Slavs. Despite Russian and Soviet 
efforts to Slavicize them, most ethnic Romanians were able to 
maintain their identity and looked to Romania as the source of 
their culture. When the Soviet Union began to crumble, Mol- 
dova asserted first its sovereignty and then its independence, 
although the population was far from unanimous on either. 
But the nationalists eventually carried the day, and Moldova 
sought to distance itself from Russia, despite the wishes of the 
Transnistrians, who in 1990 proclaimed the "Dnestr Moldavian 



xix 



Republic," with a pro-Soviet extralegal government, on the east 
bank of the Nistru River. The Transnistrians want no part of 
independent Moldova, its ethnic-Romanian nationalists, or a 
possible reunification with Romania, where they would be a 
small minority instead of a powerful political force. 

In both Belarus and Moldova, there are many who wish to 
return to the days of the Soviet Union for a variety of reasons, 
some economic, some nostalgic, and some fearful. In Belarus 
these conservatives (ethnic Belarusians as well as ethnic Rus- 
sians) are in the majority and are to be found throughout the 
population and the government. Their domination is felt not 
only in the political arena but in the social sphere as well. 

In Moldova the conservatives (mainly, but not exclusively, 
ethnic Slavs) are located throughout society and the govern- 
ment, but their influence is not as overwhelming as in Belarus. 
Many of the Moldovan conservatives (although not all) live in 
Transnistria. Here, they believe, they are the keepers of the 
Soviet ideal from which a reconstituted Soviet Union will one 
day rise up again. However, time and the course of events have 
made it clear that they are trying to protect not a way of life but 
rather their own political and — especially — economic interests, 
which are often illegal (including sales of arms and illegal 
drugs). 

Both Belarus and Moldova have stated their wish to have 
free-market economies, but they have proceeded in this direc- 
tion at different paces. The economies of both countries had 
been firmly embedded in the Soviet economy, and each had 
specialized in a certain sector — Belarus in heavy agricultural 
equipment and goods for the military, and Moldova primarily 
in agricultural products and consumer goods — while relying 
on other republics for raw materials. Both republics had been 
especially dependent on Russia for inexpensive fuels, a fact 
that continued to haunt them after independence. Subsidized 
fuels, priced well below world prices, had made the goods pro- 
duced by the two countries inexpensive and affordable by the 
other Soviet republics. With the loss of these cheap fuels, both 
countries were forced to either decrease their fuel consump- 
tion (and their output) or improve the efficiency of their 
industries. Belarus chose the former path, which coincided 
with the fact that it was selling fewer of its goods because of 
price and quality considerations, while Moldova tried, some- 
times unsuccessfully, to take steps toward improved efficiency. 



xx 



Both countries initiated privatization, or the sale of state- 
owned property, and both were having a difficult time reconfig- 
uring their economies. The Moldovan government was chang- 
ing its laws to make them more compatible with a free market 
and more friendly toward foreign investment and business in 
general. However, vested interests sought to maintain the sys- 
tem or, at least, to make large profits during the transition. 

The Belarusian government decided that, despite its inten- 
tion to sell state-owned property, it would leave the agricultural 
sector under state control. The government's reasoning was 
that Belarusian large-scale agriculture was best suited to the 
heavy agricultural equipment that the country continued to 
produce, despite the fact that fuel for this equipment was often 
scarce. 

Both Belarus and Moldova stated their intention of having 
democratic political systems, as did many former Soviet repub- 
lics. However, making the change from a communist govern- 
ment to a real democracy proved difficult, not the least because 
of officials who wished to maintain the status quo. They viewed 
democracy as too chaotic and unstable, unlike the predictabil- 
ity that had characterized their previous political lives. They 
also saw it as risky and feared to lose the perquisites to which 
they had been entitled and which they wanted to retain. 

Belarus's attempts to become a Western democracy often 
appeared likely to remain out of reach. Although the constitu- 
tion added the office of the president and declared a separa- 
tion of powers, government in Belarus often seemed no 
different from that of the Soviet era. Political apathy among 
the population remained so strong that a legislature could not 
be seated after two rounds of elections in 1995; corruption was 
still widespread despite the fact that the president had cam- 
paigned as an anticorruption candidate; and political leaders 
looked to Moscow for political, military, and financial support, 
with the president trying to lead the country back into some 
sort of union with Russia. 

Moldova kept its basic Soviet-era governmental structure, 
while adding a presidency, universal suffrage, and popular elec- 
tions, as did Belarus. However, the country's first attempt at a 
democratically elected parliament showed the need for further 
modification of the system. The unwieldy size of the body and a 
hardline nationalist majority made legislative compromises 
among the various ethnic groups in Moldova impossible, and 
the result was gridlock. A smaller parliament and a larger num- 



xxi 



ber of moderates after the 1994 elections have made legislative 
progress possible despite the disagreements and factions that 
are still to be found. 

Despite the differences between the two countries, the focal 
point for those who wish to maintain each country's indepen- 
dence is the same — the national language, the same rallying 
point as in the revolutions of 1848, a series of republican 
revolts against Western and Central European monarchies. 
These revolts all failed in their immediate goals, but they even- 
tually led to greater representation of ethnic groups in legisla- 
tures and to greater cultural autonomy, including the use of 
languages that, until then, had been dismissed by the authori- 
ties as peasant vernaculars. However, while nationalists in the 
last century sought to codify (and sometimes even form) a lit- 
erary language, the task of the nationalists in 1991 was to revive 
that language and divest it of its Russian and Soviet accretions. 

To those who have never undergone forced cultural assimi- 
lation, the issue may seem trivial. What difference does it make 
what language is spoken or what it is called? To those who have 
had their use of language restricted, however, the matter goes 
beyond mere defiance. Language is the medium of the culture 
on which their daily lives and identities are based. To define 
what language can be spoken is to define the identity not only 
of the individual but also of the country. 

Moldovans kept Russian as a language of interethnic com- 
munication but subsequently entered a debate as to what their 
own language was to be called: was it Moldovan or Romanian? 
The president explained that the term "Moldovan" was used in 
the constitution for political reasons — to assuage the fears of 
those who feared imminent reunification with Romania 
(despite the fact that Germany and Austria, for example, which 
both use the German language, are separate countries) . Again, 
politics, language, and emotions were thoroughly entangled. 

Belarusians, the majority of whom prefer to use Russian in 
their daily lives, have dealt with the language issue differently. 
They returned Russian to its status of official language, along- 
side the Belarusian language, through their response to a May 
1995 referendum question. Thus the Belarusian language pol- 
icy reflected Belarus' s pro-Russian policies in general. 

May 31, 1995 

* * * 



xxn 



* * * 



In the months following preparation of this manuscript, 
Belarus's president, Alyaksandr Lukashyenka, and his govern- 
ment continued their pro-Russian policies and their Soviet-era 
mentality. When Aleksey II, Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and 
All Russia, visited Belarus in July, Lukashyenka praised the 
Orthodox Church while reproaching the Roman Catholic 
Church for its active proselytizing and politicking. When sub- 
way workers in Minsk went on strike in August, the government 
sent special police units and Ministry of Internal Affairs troops 
against them. In addition, Lukashyenka reacted angrily to 
information that United States and Polish trade unions, includ- 
ing Solidarity, were providing financial assistance to the strik- 
ing workers through Belarusian nongovernmental unions. Also 
in August, the president ordered that books published in 1992- 
95 be removed from secondary schools and institutes of higher 
education. In other words, these schools would return to using 
Soviet textbooks. 

Lukashyenka also continued arrogating power to himself. 
His unilateral decisions, including suspending parliamentary 
immunity, outlawing strikes in sectors he deemed critical, ban- 
ning the activity of two trade unions until further notice, with- 
holding the salaries of parliamentary deputies, and making 
arbitrary changes in the state budget, paint a picture of a 
leader seeking to replace the separation of governmental pow- 
ers with one-man rule. However, it was only after Lukashyenka's 
decision to suspend parliamentary immunity that the Supreme 
Soviet spoke up and petitioned the Constitutional Court to 
rule on the constitutionality of his measures. A constitutional 
crisis appeared unavoidable unless the two sides could come to 
an agreement. 

Perhaps the most dramatic indication that the Soviet men- 
tality is alive and well in Belarus was the hot-air balloon tragedy 
in September 1995. A yearly international hot-air balloon race 
starting in Switzerland included three United States balloons 
that crossed the border into Belarus. Although Belarusian 
authorities had been notified of the race earlier, the Belarusian 
military fired at one of the balloons, claiming that it did not 
have any identification and that sensitive military installations 
were nearby. The two American pilots of the balloon were 
killed when a missile caused their hydrogen-filled balloon to 
explode. The pilots of a second balloon left the country before 
any problems arose, but authorities detained the pilots of the 



XXlll 



third balloon for a day before releasing them. The Belarusian 
government issued an official apology for the shooting that 
accepted "a certain amount" of blame but nevertheless tried to 
justify the military's response. Many people were convinced 
that this would not be the last manifestation of Belarus's Cold 
War mentality. 

At the same time, events in Moldova centered on two men — 
Lieutenant General Aleksandr Lebed', commander of the Rus- 
sian 14th Army, and Mircea Snegur, Moldova's president. The 
Russian 14th Army, previously known as the Soviet 14th Army, 
remained in Transnistria after the Soviet Union was dissolved 
to protect the ethnic Russians in what Moscow called "the near 
abroad." Despite their ostensible status as peacekeepers in Mol- 
dova's dispute with Transnistria, the 14th Army supported the 
extralegal government of the "Dnestr Republic" and was even 
accused of supplying weapons to it during the worst of the 
fighting in 1992. 

At the beginning of June, Lebed' offered his resignation in 
protest of Russian government plans to downgrade the status 
of the 14th Army to that of an operational group. After initially 
refusing the general's resignation, the Russian Ministry of 
Defense accepted it and replaced him with Major General 
Valeriy Yevnevich. The Moldovan government's concern was 
that the new commander continue to keep the army's large 
stock of weapons safe while a political solution was sought for 
the problems in Transnistria. Lebed' was seen by some as a 
strong candidate for the Russian presidency in 1996, but his 
popularity began decreasing once he resigned and removed 
himself from the public eye. 

In a surprising move in July, President Snegur resigned his 
membership in the ruling Democratic Agrarian Party of Mol- 
dova and took his supporters with him to form a new presiden- 
tial party, later named the Party of Rebirth and Conciliation. By 
dividing the Agrarians and depriving them of a parliamentary 
majority, as well as by considering an alliance with a pro-Roma- 
nian party, the president had made moves that could disrupt 
Moldova's political stability. The purpose of these actions was 
twofold. The first was preparation for the December 1996 pres- 
idential election in which Snegur will seek to win on the 
strength of the ethnic Romanian vote. His two challengers, 
Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli and Parliament chairman 
Petru Lucinschi, are expected to capture the votes of Moldova's 



xxiv 



Russian-speaking population, thus making Snegur dependent 
on the ethnic Romanians. 

Snegur's other purpose in creating the new party was an 
effort to change the government to that of a personalized pres- 
idential regime, a move opposed by Parliament. This regime 
would be different from the existing government and would be 
at odds with Moldova's political traditions. Under a presiden- 
tial regime, the existing balance of power between the legisla- 
tive and executive branches would be disrupted, and, critics 
charge, the country's progress toward democracy would be 
jeopardized. 

In Transnistria the economic situation continued to deterio- 
rate. The authorities of the "Dnestr Republic" sought greater 
political legitimacy in hopes that this would help them garner 
more political support and financial assistance from Russia. To 
this end, the authorities began drafting a constitution and elec- 
tion law in August in preparation for parliamentary elections 
scheduled for late fall 1995. In the meantime, bread rationing 
was introduced in Tiraspol and its suburbs in late August. 

A more important event also began in August — the wind- 
down of the operational group of Russian troops in Transni- 
stria. Withdrawal of these troops is part of a "gentleman's 
agreement," reached in October 1994 between Russia and Mol- 
dova, that sought a political solution to the stand-off between 
the "Dnestr Republic" and the rest of Moldova, but that was 
approved only by Moldova. However, until the Russian State 
Duma (the lower house of the parliament) approves the agree- 
ment, matters will remain at a standstill. 

In mid-August the commander, Valeriy Yevnevich, now pro- 
moted to lieutenant general, began to transfer nonmilitary 
equipment from the operational group to Transnistrian civil- 
ian authorities. Work also began on the destruction of old 
munitions (some manufactured before 1940) that could not be 
transported to Russia. Several trainloads of surplus military 
equipment were to be sent to Russia as well. At the same time, 
there was a cutback in the number of the operational group's 
officers and support staff. But because the Russian Duma had 
not yet ratified the withdrawal of the operational group, mili- 
tary authorities were calling this a "redeployment" of forces 
and equipment rather than an actual "withdrawal." 

In September, Igor' N. Smirnov, president of the "Dnestr 
Republic," addressed the Russian State Duma and made an 
appeal for official recognition of the "Dnestr Republic." Presi- 



xxv 



dent Snegur of Moldova protested this move and continued to 
place his confidence in political negotiations. Smirnov, on the 
other hand, hoped to drag out talks until after Russian parlia- 
mentary elections, scheduled for December 1995, in an effort 
to get more support from the new parliament, which he hoped 
would be more sympathetic to the Transnistrians' cause. 

September 29, 1995 Helen Fedor 



xxvi 



Chapter 1 . Belarus 



St. George, patron saint of Belarus 



Chronology of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



NINTH CENTURY 
Late 



THIRTEENTH CENTURY 
1240 



FOURTEEENTH CEN- 
TURY 



Emergence of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state, which 
soon splits into a number of principalities. One, Polatsk, 
becomes nucleus of modern-day Belarus. 



Belarus and part of Ukraine come under control of Lithuania. 
Resulting state is called Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus', and 
Samogitia. 



1385 

SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
1569 



Union of Krevo joins Poland and Grand Duchy in a federation. 



Union of Lublin unites Poland and Lithuania into a single 
state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 



1596 



Union of Brest unites Roman Catholic Church with the part of 
the Orthodox Church existing within Polish-Lithuanian 
Commonwealth. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
1772, 1793, and 1795 



NINETEENTH CENTURY 
1839 



1861 
1863 



1864 



TWENTIETH CENTURY 
1905-18 



Russia, Prussia, and Austria carry out three partitions of 
Poland. Belorussia, formerly part of Poland, now almost 
entirely within Russian Empire. 



Tsar Nicholas I abolishes Uniate Church and forces Uniates 
(three-quarters of Belorussians are members of Uniate 
Church at this time) to reconvert to Orthodoxy; bans use of 
name "Belorussia," replacing it with name "Northwest Terri- 
tory," and bans Belorussian language. 

Serfdom is abolished in Russian Empire. 

Kastus' Kalinowski inspires uprising in Belorussia in support of 
Polish-Lithuanian insurrection against Russia. Insurrection 
fails, and Polish territories are absorbed into Russian 
Empire. 

Kalinowski, considered founding father of Belorussian nation- 
alism, is hanged in Vilnius. 



Ban on Belorussian language is lifted; Belorussian culture 
flourishes; period of nashaniwsta. 



3 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Chronology of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



1918 March 

1919 January 

1921 March 

1922 December 
1928 

1935 

1941 

1944 Summer 

1986 April 

1988 June 

October 

1990 June 

1991 April 
August 



Treaty of Brest-Li to vsk is signed, putting most of Belorussia 
under German control. Central Executive Committee of All- 
Belarusian Congress (Rada) nullifies treaty and proclaims 
independence of Belarusian Democratic Republic. 

Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Belorussian SSR) is 
established by force of arms. 

Treaty of Riga divides Belorussia among Poland, Belorussian 
SSR, and Russia. 

Belorussian SSR is incorporated into Soviet Union. 

Forced collectivization starts. 

Belorussians in Poland opposing Polish government's policies 
on ethnic minorities are placed in concentration camp at 
Byaroza-Kartuzski. 

Nazis create Weissruthenische Generalbezirk (Belorussian Mil- 
itary District) in central part of Belorussia, establish German 
military regime in eastern part, and parcel out remaining 
Belorussian territory to Lithuanian and Ukrainian adminis- 
trative divisions and to East Prussia. 

Red Army "liberates" Belorussian SSR from Nazis; Stalin orders 
sweeping purges and mass deportations. 

Chornobyl' nuclear power plant in Ukraine explodes; radia- 
tion mainly falls on Belorussian SSR Secrecy surrounding 
disaster galvanizes Belorussians to mount protests against 
Soviet regime. 

Mass graves of Stalin's victims are found at Kurapaty, near 
Minsk. Discovery of some 250,000 bodies brings denuncia- 
tion of old regime and demands for reform. 

Belarusian Popular Front is formed. 

Supreme Soviet of Belorussian SSR adopts Declaration of State 
Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic; 
Belarusian is declared the official language. 

Demonstrations are held in several cities over economic and 
political issues. 

Coup d'etat takes place in Moscow; Estonia, Latvia, and 
Ukraine declare independence from the Soviet Union. 

Supreme Soviet of Belorussian SSR declares independence on 
August 25 and changes name of country to Republic of 
Belarus. Communist Party of Belarus is temporarily sus- 
pended. 

Moldovan Parliament bans Communist Party of Moldavia. Mol- 
dova declares its complete independence from Soviet Union 
on August 27 and demands withdrawal of Soviet troops. 



4 



Belarus 



Chronology of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



December 



Belarus signs Minsk Agreement, establishing Commonwealth 
of Independent States (CIS). 

Eleven former Soviet republics expand CIS by issuing Alma-Ata 
Declaration; Minsk becomes headquarters of CIS. 



1994 March 



Supreme Soviet adopts new constitution; office of president is 
created. 



July 

1995 May 



Alyaksandr Lukashyenka is elected president. 

Parliamentary elections are held; results of two rounds of elec- 
tions are insufficient to seat new Supreme Soviet. 



5 



Country Profile 



Country 

Formal Name: Republic of Belarus (Ryespublika Byelarus) . 

Short Form: Belarus. 

Term for Citizens: Belarusian(s). 

Capital: Minsk. 

Date of Independence: August 25, 1991. 
Geography 

Size: Approximately 207,600 square kilometers. 

Topography: Hilly landscape with many lakes and gently 
sloping ridges created by glaciers in north; low-lying swampy 
plain in south. One-third of country covered by unpopulated 
forest tracts. Highest point 346 meters. 

Climate: Temperate continental. Average annual precipitation 
ranges from 550 to 700 millimeters and is sometimes excessive. 

Society 

Population: 10,404,862 (July 1994 estimate), with average 
annual growth rate of 0.32 percent. 

Ethnic Groups: In 1989 census, 77.8 percent Belorussian, 13.2 
percent Russian, 4.1 percent Polish, 2.9 percent Ukrainian, and 
remainder Lithuanian, Latvian, Tatar, and other. 

Languages: Belarusian official language; Russian is language of 
interethnic communication; languages of minorities protected. 

Religion: About 60 percent Orthodox (early 1990s). Other 
denominations include Roman Catholic, Apostolic Christian, 
Baptist, Muslim, New Apostolic, Old Believer, Pentecostal, 



7 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 
Seventh-Day Adventist, and Uniate. 

Education and Literacy: Compulsory attendance ten years; 
literacy rate 98 percent (1989). 

Health: Health care provided by state, mostly free of charge. 
System overwhelmed by victims of Chornobyl' accident. Infant 
mortality rate 18.9 per 1,000 live births (1994). Life expectancy 
(1994) 66.2 years for males and 75.8 years for females. Modern 
medical equipment and facilities in short supply. In 1994 about 
127 hospital beds and forty-two doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. 

Economy 

General Character: Extremely centralized. Government efforts 
to privatize and establish market economy weak. 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): In 1992 about US$30.3 
billion; real growth rate -10 percent. Agriculture accounted for 
23 percent of GDP, industry for 38 percent, and other sectors 
for 39 percent. 

Agriculture: Mainly state and collective farms; sprinkling of 
small plots for private household use. Primary crops: fodder, 
potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, potatoes, flax, and 
sugar beets. Cattle, hogs, and sheep raised. 

Industry: Machine- and instrument-building (especially 
tractors, large trucks, machine tools, and automation equip- 
ment), petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, 
processed food, glass, and textiles. 

Minerals: Small deposits of iron ore, nonferrous metal ores, 
dolomite, potash, rock salt, phosphorites, refractory clay, 
molding sand, sand for glass, and various building materials. 

Energy: Primary sources: twenty-two thermal power plants 
(total capacity 7,033 megawatts), additional small power plants 
(total capacity 188 megawatts), and nine small hydro-electric 
power plants (total capacity six megawatts). Country's power 
grid connected to grids of Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, and 
Poland. Almost totally dependent on Russia for oil, coal, and 
natural gas needed to fuel electric-power generation plants. 



8 



Belarus 



Foreign Trade: In 1994 about 84 percent of foreign trade 
conducted with other members of Commonwealth of Inde- 
pendent States. Imports: natural gas, oil and gas condensate, 
diesel fuel, mazut, wheat, corn, and sugar. Exports: crude and 
processed oil, heavy machinery, diesel fuel, mazut, chemical 
and mineral fertilizers, televisions, trucks, tractors, refrig- 
erators and freezers, meat, and milk. 

Fiscal Year: Calendar year. 

Currency and Exchange Rate: In March 1995, 11,669 
Belarusian rubles per US$1. 

Transportation and Telecommunications 

Roads: In 1994 estimated at 92,200 kilometers, including 
61,000 kilometers of paved surfaces. 

Railroads: In 1993 estimated at 5,488 kilometers. 

Airports: In 1993, 124 airports, of which fifty-five usable and 
thirty-one with permanent-surface runways. Main airport in 
Minsk, Minsk International. 

Inland Waterways: Extensive and widely used canal and river 
systems, especially Dnyapro River and its tributaries and 
Dnyaprowska-Buhski Canal connecting Buh and Prypyats' 
rivers. Homyel', Babruysk, Barysaw, and Pinsk major river 
ports. In 1991 some 800,000 passengers and 18.6 million tons 
of freight carried. No direct access to sea, but relatively close to 
Baltic Sea ports. Agreement with Poland to use port of Gdynia. 

Telecommunications: In 1994 five television channels: two 
Belarusian (one state-owned, one private) and three Russian. 
No cable service available. More than thirty-five AM radio 
stations in seventeen cities; more than eighteen FM radio 
stations in eighteen cities. 

Government and Politics 

Government: Democracy, with president and unicameral 
legislature, Supreme Soviet, both popularly elected. Gov- 
ernment composed of president and Cabinet of Ministers. 



9 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Procuracy headed by procurator general. New constitution 
adopted March 28, 1994; went into effect March 30, 1994. 

Politics: Political parties and movements generally quite small. 
Include Belarusian Popular Front, Party of Communists of 
Belarus, Communist Party of Belarus, United Democratic Party 
of Belarus, Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly (Hramada), 
Belarusian Peasant Party, Belarusian Christian Democratic 
Union, "Belaya Rus'" Slavic Council, and other parties. 

Foreign Relations: Recognized by more than 100 countries 
(late 1992), nearly seventy of which had some level of dip- 
lomatic relations. Recognized by United States on December 
26, 1991. Belarusian diplomatic presence abroad limited. Rela- 
tions with Russia overshadow domestic and foreign policy. 
Relations with Ukraine weak. Relations with Poland, Lithuania, 
and Latvia friendly. 

International Agreements and Memberships: Member of 
United Nations (founding member), World Bank, Interna- 
tional Monetary Fund, Commonwealth of Independent States, 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (until 
January 1995 known as Conference on Security and Coop- 
eration in Europe), North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Euro- 
pean Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (observer status). Declared 
ineligible for membership in Council of Europe because of 
election laws and practices. 

National Security 

Armed Forces: Armed forces under Ministry of Defense. In 
1994 totaled approximately 92,400: ground forces (52,500), air 
force (27,600, including air defense), some 11,000 centrally 
controlled units, and about 1,300 staff. No navy. Reserves of 
289,500 (those who had had military service in previous five 
years). In accordance with stated goal of becoming a neutral 
state, plans originally called for reducing number of troops by 
60 percent from 243,000 in 1993 to 96,000 in 1995; plans for 
further reduction. Universal conscription for eighteen months. 

Major Military Units: In 1994 ground forces consisted of three 



10 



Belarus 



corps headquarters, two motorized divisions, one airborne 
division, one artillery division, three mechanized divisions, one 
airborne brigade, three surface-to-surface missile brigades, two 
antitank brigades, one special duties brigade, and seven 
surface-to-air missile brigades. Air force consisted of two 
interceptor regiments, three strike regiments, and one 
reconnaissance regiment. Four regiments had 300 helicopters, 
and one transport regiment had over forty helicopters. 

Military Equipment: Arms from former Soviet stocks. 
Extensive Soviet-era defense industry has been hit severely by 
decreased availability of materials and external demands. 

Internal Security: Border Guards (8,000 in 1995) under 
control of Ministry of Internal Affairs. Local assets of former 
Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic KGB transferred to new 
government. Name retained. 

Russian Troops: In 1993 about 40,000 troops of Russian air 
force. Scheduled to leave in 1995, but not likely to do so. 
Russian troops tending remaining strategic nuclear weapons to 
remain stationed in Belarus until 2020. 



11 



International boundary 

® National capital 
H • Populated place 

50 100 Kilome ters 
50 100 Miles 



irodna 



i 

Brest 



Polatsk 

• Maladzyechna 
® Minsk 

• Slutsk 



Vitsyebsk 1 



Orsha • 



Mahilyow • 



v 



• Pinsk 



UKRAINE 



Homyel' • 



no/ necessarily authoritative 



Figure 2. Belarus, 1995 



12 



SINCE THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY, national activists 
have based their attempts to create an independent Belorus- 
sian state on the Belorussian language, which had been kept 
alive over the centuries mainly by peasants. The stage was set 
for the emergence of a national consciousness by the industri- 
alization and urbanization of the nineteenth century and by 
the subsequent publication of literature in the Belorussian lan- 
guage, which was often suppressed by Russian, and later Polish, 
authorities. It is ironic, then, that the first long-lived Belorus- 
sian state entity, the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic 
(Belorussian SSR), was created by outside forces — the Bolshe- 
vik (see Glossary) government in Moscow. And it was those 
same forces, the communists, whose downfall in 1991 precipi- 
tated the existence of an independent Belarus. The new nation 
has since been torn between its desire for independence and a 
longing for integration with newly independent Russia. 

The population of the Belorussian SSR was jolted into 
national awareness in the late 1980s by the occurrence of one 
disaster and the discovery of another. The explosion at the 
Chornobyl' (Chernobyl' in Russian) nuclear power plant in 
Ukraine not only entailed the physically damaging radiation 
carried by the winds but also came to represent the toll taken 
on the country's sense of its ethnic and cultural identity by 
years of Russification (see Glossary). These two sets of conse- 
quences affected both the daily lives of the Belorussians and 
national politics: how was the country to remedy the damage? 

Belarus's other disaster was the discovery in 1988 of mass 
graves containing victims of the atrocities of the early Soviet 
dictator, Joseph V. Stalin. Although this discovery angered a 
broad spectrum of Belorussians, it energized only a small 
group of activists to try to overcome the country's political apa- 
thy. Seeing Stalin's actions as clear proof of Moscow's attempts 
to eliminate the Belorussian nation, nationalists wished to 
ensure that such barbarity could not occur again. For them, a 
strong, independent Belarus was the first step in this direction. 

Historical Setting 
Early History 

Belarus's origins can be traced from the emergence in the 



13 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

late ninth century A.D. of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state. 
After the death of its ruler, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, in 1054, 
Kievan Rus' split into a number of principalities, each centered 
on a city. One, Polatsk (Polotsk in Russian), became the 
nucleus of modern-day Belarus. 

In 1240, after the Tatar overthrow of Kiev, the dominant 
principality of Kievan Rus', Belarus and part of Ukraine came 
under the control of Lithuania. The resulting state was called 
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus', and Samogitia (see fig. 3). 
Because territories inhabited by Slavs made up about 90 per- 
cent of the Grand Duchy, they exerted a great cultural influ- 
ence on the new state. Official business was conducted in a 
Slavic language (a predecessor of both Belarusian and Ukrai- 
nian) based on Old Church Slavonic (see Glossary), and the 
law code was based on that of Kievan Rus'. 

Belorussia, Poland, and Catholicism 

The Union of Krevo (1385), which joined Poland and the 
Grand Duchy in a confederation, hinged on the conversion of 
Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila from paganism to Roman 
Catholicism and his subsequent marriage to twelve-year-old 
Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Thus he became Wladyslaw II 
Jagiello, king of Poland. Poland and Lithuania were later 
united into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Common- 
wealth, by the Union of Lublin (1569). 

When Roman Catholicism became the official religion of 
Lithuania shortly after Jagiello's conversion, the Lithuanian 
and Belorussian nobilities began converting from Orthodoxy 
to Catholicism and assimilating Polish culture (including the 
language), a process accelerated by the Union of Lublin. As a 
result, the Belorussian peasantry was ruled by those who 
shared neither its language nor its religion, Orthodoxy. 

The Union of Brest (1596), which united the Roman Catho- 
lic Church with the part of the Orthodox Church that was 
within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was viewed favor- 
ably by both the Polish king, Sigismund III, and a number of 
Orthodox bishops, clergy, and faithful. The new Uniate 
Church (see Glossary) acknowledged the supremacy of the 
Roman Catholic pope and accepted articles of Roman Catholic 
religious doctrine. In return, the Uniate Church retained its 
traditional Orthodox rites and customs as well as a measure of 
autonomy in nondoctrinal matters; it was also given the same 
rights and privileges as the Roman Catholic Church. However, 



14 



Belarus 



fear of the new church becoming Latinized and Polonized (see 
Glossary) caused many of the Orthodox faithful to reject the 
union, and the Orthodox Church continued to exist alongside 
the Uniate Church in an often bitter struggle. 

In the aftermath of the Union of Brest, both civil and reli- 
gious authorities persecuted the Orthodox Church and sup- 
ported the Uniates in their takeover of Orthodox property. 
Social conditions deteriorated, a large-scale revolt was waged 
against Polish landowners in 1648-54 (coinciding with the 
Khmel'nyts'kyi Rebellion in Ukraine), and many Belorussians 
fled to the Ukrainian steppes (see Glossary) to join the Cos- 
sacks (see Glossary). Little economic development took place 
in Belorussian lands, and the vast majority of the Belorussian 
population lived on subsistence agriculture. 

The Partitions of Poland 

Belorussia remained a part of Poland until Russia, Prussia, 
and Austria carried out the three partitions of Poland in 1772, 
1793, and 1795. After the last partition, the entire territory of 
Belorussia became part of the Russian Empire (see Glossary), 
with the exception of a small piece of land in the west, which 
was held by Prussia (see fig. 4). Orthodox Russia tolerated the 
Uniate Church to a certain degree, but in 1839, at a time when 
three-quarters of all Belorussians were Uniates, Tsar Nicholas I 
(with the support of the Russian Orthodox Church) abolished 
the Uniate Church and forced the Uniates to reconvert to 
Orthodoxy. He also banned the use of the name "Belorussia," 
replacing it with the name "Northwest Territory" (Severo- 
zapadnyy kray in Russian), and banned the Belorussian lan- 
guage. Overall, the state pursued a policy of Russification. 

At the time serfdom was abolished in the Russian Empire in 
1861, Belorussia was essentially a nation of peasants and land- 
lords. Although they had their freedom, the peasants had little 
else: they remained poor and largely landless. The imposition 
of the Russian language, the Orthodox religion, heavy taxes, 
and military service lasting twenty-five years made the past 
under Polish rule seem better than the present under the tsars. 

Early Belorussian Nationalism 

It was memories of life under Polish rule that Kastus' Kali- 
nowski (1838-64) tried to evoke in his clandestine newspaper 
Muzhytskaya prawda (Peasants' Truth), which he published to 
inspire an uprising in solidarity with the Polish-Lithuanian 



15 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 




Source: Based on information from Paul Robert Magocsi, Ukraine: A Historical Atlas, 
Toronto, 1985, 9, 24. 

Figure 3. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus', and Samogitia at Its 
Greatest Extent, Early Fifteenth Century 

insurrection against Russia in January 1863. The insurrection 
failed, and the Polish territories and people were absorbed 
directly into the Russian Empire. Kalinowski, today considered 
the founding father of Belorussian nationalism, was hanged in 
Vilnius. 

Despite the industrial development that took place in 
Belorussia during the 1880s and 1890s, unemployment and 
poverty were widespread, giving impetus to large-scale migra- 
tions. In the fifty years leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution, 
almost 1.5 million persons emigrated from Belorussia to the 
United States and to Siberia. 



16 



Belarus 



^gggg Territory held by Russia 
^™ before 1772 
v / / y\ Territory acquired by Russia 
in 1772 



Territory acquired by Russia 

in 1793 
Territory acquired by Russia 

in 1795 



[S3 



I 1 Territory acquired by Prussia 

1 1 in 1795 



Present-day international boundary 

® Present-day national capital 

• Populated place 

50 100 Kilometers 



50 



100 Miles 




Source: Based on information from Paul Robert Magocsi, Historical Atlas of East Central 
Europe, Seattle, 1993, 71. 

Figure 4. Russian and Prussian Acquisitions ofBelarusian Territory 
in the Partitions of Poland, 1772-95 

Following the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War 
and the Revolution of 1905, strikes and peasant disorders 
erupted throughout the Russian Empire; to stem the unrest 
the tsar granted, and then extended, civil liberties. Russian 
authorities were forced to relax their repressive policies on 
non-Russian ethnic groups, prompting a national and cultural 
flowering in Belorussia. The ban on the Belorussian language 
(and other non-Russian languages) was lifted, although there 
were still restrictions on its use; education was expanded, and 
peasants began to attend school for the first time; Belorussian 



17 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

writers published classics of modern Belorussian literature; and 
the weekly newspaper Nasha niva (Our Cornfield), published 
by the Belorussian Socialist Party, lent the name nashaniwstva 
to this period (1906-18) of Belorussian history. 

World War and Revolution 

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 turned Belorussia into 
a zone of strict martial law, military operations, and great 
destruction. Large German and Russian armies fought fiercely 
and caused the expulsion or departure of more than 1 million 
civilians from the country. The Russian government's inept war 
efforts and ineffective economic policies prompted high food 
prices, shortages of goods, and many needless deaths in the 
war. Discontent in the cities and the countryside spread, lead- 
ing to strikes, riots, and the eventual downfall of the tsarist gov- 
ernment. 

The two revolutions of 1917 — the February Revolution and 
the Bolshevik Revolution — gave nationally conscious Belorus- 
sians an opportunity to advance their political cause. Bolshe- 
vism did not have many followers among the natives of 
Belorussia; instead, local political life was dominated by the 
Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Mensheviks (see Glossary), 
the Bund (see Glossary), and various Christian movements in 
which the clergy of both the Russian Orthodox Church and the 
Polish Catholic Church played significant roles. The Belorus- 
sian political cause was represented by the Belorussian Socialist 
Party, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Leninist Social 
Democratic Party, and various nationalist groups advocating 
moderate forms of socialism. 

In December 1917, more than 1,900 delegates to the All- 
Belarusian Congress (Rada) met in Minsk to establish a demo- 
cratic republican government in Belorussia, but Bolshevik sol- 
diers disbanded the assembly before it had finished its 
deliberations. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 put 
most of Belorussia under German control, but on March 25, 
1918, the Central Executive Committee of the Rada nullified 
the treaty and proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian 
Democratic Republic. Later that year, the German govern- 
ment, which had guaranteed the new state's independence, 
collapsed, and the new republic was unable to resist Belorus- 
sian Bolsheviks supported by the Bolshevik government in Mos- 
cow. The Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Belorussian 
SSR) was established on January 1, 1919, by force of arms. 



18 



Belarus 



For the next two years, Belorussia was a prize in the Polish- 
Soviet War, a conflict settled by the Treaty of Riga in March 
1921. Under the terms of the treaty, Belorussia was divided into 
three parts: the western portion, which was absorbed into 
Poland; central Belorussia, which formed the Belorussian SSR; 
and the eastern portion, which became part of Russia. The 
Belorussian SSR was incorporated into the Soviet Union (see 
Glossary) when the Soviet Union was founded in December 
1922 (see fig. 5). 

The territory of the Belorussian SSR was enlarged in both 
1924 and 1926 by the addition of Belorussian ethnographic 
regions that had become part of Russia under the Treaty of 
Riga. The area of the republic was expanded from its original 
post-treaty size of 51,800 square kilometers to 124,320 square 
kilometers, and the population increased from 1.5 million to 
almost 5 million persons. Belarus was expanded to its current 
size of 207,600 square kilometers in 1944. 

The New Economic Policy (NEP — see Glossary), established 
by Vladimir I. Lenin in 1921 as a temporary compromise with 
capitalism, stimulated economic recovery in the Soviet Union, 
and by the mid-1 920s agricultural and industrial output in 
Belorussia had reached 1913 levels. Historically, Belorussia had 
been a country of landlords with large holdings, but after the 
Bolshevik Revolution, these landlords were replaced by middle- 
class landholders; farm collectives were practically nonexistent. 
When forced collectivization (see Glossary) and confiscations 
began in 1928, there was strong resistance, for which the peas- 
antry paid a high social price: peasants were allowed to starve 
in some areas, and so-called troublemakers were deported to 
Siberia. Because peasants slaughtered their livestock rather 
than turn it over to collective farms (see Glossary), agriculture 
suffered serious setbacks. However, the rapid industrialization 
that accompanied forced collectivization enabled the Moscow 
government to develop new heavy industry in Belorussia 
quickly. 

During the period of the NEP, the Soviet government 
relaxed its cultural restrictions, and Belorussian language and 
culture flourished. But in the 1930s, when Stalin was fully in 
power, Moscow's attitude changed, and it became important to 
Moscow to bind both Belorussia and its economy as closely to 
the Soviet Union as possible. Once again, this meant Russifica- 
tion of the people and the culture. The Belorussian language 
was reformed to bring it closer to the Russian language, and 



19 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



LATVIA 



'Baltic 

Sea LITHUANIA 

v 

Kaliningrad I 



r \ 



GERMANY f 



Warsaw 



POLAND 



International boundary, 1923 

Soviet republic boundary, 1923 

® National capital 

• Populated place 
I. . , . I Territory of present-day Belarus 
50 100 Kilometers 



50 



100 Miles 



Mahityow 




RUSSIAN 
SOVIET 
FEDERATED 
SOCIALIST 
REPUBLIC 

Smolensk 



SOVIET 



UNION 



• Kiev (Kyyiv) 

UKRAINIAN 
SSR 

Boundary representation 
not necessarily authoritative 



Source: Based on information from Paul Robert Magocsi, Ukraine: A Historical Atlas, 
Toronto, 1985, 9, 24. 

Figure 5. Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), 1922 

history books were rewritten to show that the Belorussian peo- 
ple had striven to be united with Russia throughout their his- 
tory. Political persecutions in the 1930s reached massive pro- 
portions, causing population losses as great as would occur dur- 
ing World War II — more than 2 million persons. 

Belorussian Territory under Poland 

Belorussian territory under Poland experienced its own 
drama. The new Polish state, where ethnic minorities, includ- 
ing Belorussians, Ukrainians, Jews, and Germans, made up 
one-third of the country's population, began as a democracy. 
The country's 3.5 million Belorussians were able to open their 
own primary schools, high schools, and teachers' colleges; the 
government supported cultural activities; and Belorussians 
elected three senators and eleven deputies to the Polish parlia- 
ment, or Sejm, in 1922. 



20 



Belarus 



By 1924, however, Poland's policy toward ethnic minorities 
had changed drastically. Under the guise of combating com- 
munism, most Belorussian schools were closed, and publica- 
tions in the Belorussian language were banned. The gov- 
ernment encouraged ethnic Poles (see Glossary) to settle in 
the Belorussian region, but at the same time it neglected the 
overall economic development of the area. The Belorussian 
region became an agricultural appendage to a more industrial- 
ized Poland, and unemployment and land hunger were wide- 
spread. Between 1925 and 1938, some 78,000 people emi- 
grated from this part of Poland in search of work, mainly to 
France and Latin America. 

In May 1926, war hero Marshal Jozef Pilsudski established 
an authoritarian regime in Poland. The following year, when 
the Belorussian Peasant-and-Workers 1 Union spearheaded a 
widespread protest against the government's oppressive poli- 
cies in the Belorussian region, the regime arrested and impris- 
oned the union's activists. Further governmental policies 
toward the so-called Eastern Territories (the official name for 
the Belorussian and Ukrainian regions) were aimed at impos- 
ing a Polish and Roman Catholic character on the region. 

In 1935 Poland declared that it would no longer be bound 
by the League of Nations treaty on ethnic minorities, arguing 
that its own laws were adequate. That same year, many Belorus- 
sians in Poland who opposed the government's policies were 
placed in a concentration camp at Byaroza-Kartuzski (Bereza 
Kartuska in Polish) . The Belorussians lost their last seat in the 
Polish Sejm in the general elections of 1935, and the legislation 
that guaranteed the right of minority communities to have 
their own schools was repealed in November 1938. The state 
then involved itself more deeply in religion by attempting to 
Polonize the Orthodox Church and subordinate it to the gov- 
ernment. 

World War II 

Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939. Two and 
one-half weeks later, Soviet troops moved into the western por- 
tions of Belorussia and Ukraine. Ignorant of, or disbelieving 
the existence of, mass persecutions under Stalin, most Belorus- 
sians hailed the arrival of the Red Army, only to learn quickly 
of the harsh reality of communism. The flourishing of national 
culture that the communist party permitted was strictly circum- 
scribed by the party's ideological and political goals. Arrests 



21 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

and deportations were common: about 300,000 persons were 
deported from western Belorussia to Soviet labor camps 
between September 1939 and June 1941, when Germany 
attacked the Soviet Union. 

In June 1941, when German tanks swept through Belorussia 
toward Moscow, many Belorussians actually welcomed the 
Nazis, thinking that they would free the Belorussian people 
from their communist oppression. However, the Nazis' designs 
for the occupied territories became known soon enough: Ger- 
manizing and assimilating 25 percent of the Belorussians and 
either ousting or destroying the remaining 75 percent; parcel- 
ing out Belorussian territory to the Lithuanian and Ukrainian 
administrative divisions and to East Prussia, while making the 
central part of Belorussia the Weissruthenische Generalbezirk 
(Belorussian Military District) ; and placing the eastern portion 
of Belorussia under the German military regime. 

Although the front was far to the east, military operations 
continued within Belorussia. During the three years of Nazi 
occupation, enormous devastation was caused by guerrilla war- 
fare, retaliatory burnings of entire villages by the occupiers, 
mass executions of the Jewish population, and two movements 
of the front through the area. More than 2 million lives were 
lost and more than 1 million buildings destroyed. An American 
observer, after six months of travel across Belorussia, called it 
"the most devastated territory in the world." Major cities, such 
as Minsk and Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk in Russian), were in ruins. 

One of the political consequences of the German occupa- 
tion was an upsurge of Belorussian nationalism, which the Ger- 
man authorities used for their own ends. Once the Red Army 
and Soviet administrators fled Belorussia ahead of the Nazis, 
Belorussians began to organize their own police forces and 
administration, which the Nazis encouraged. Belorussians liv- 
ing in Belorussia were assisted by Belorussian anticommunist 
political refugees who were permitted to return from Germany. 
The Nazis permitted the Union of Belorussian Youth to orga- 
nize in mid-1943; the Belorussian Central Council (BCC) was 
formed as a self-governing auxiliary body in December 1943; 
the BCC mobilized the Belorussian Land Defense in March 
1944; and the All-Belorussian Congress was permitted to meet 
in Minsk to rally resistance to the Russian communists in 1944. 
However, none of those measures changed the negative atti- 
tude of the Belorussians toward the brutal occupation regime. 



22 



Belarus 



To counterbalance the Belorussians, the Nazis allowed a 
number of Russians back from political exile in German-occu- 
pied countries in Europe. In addition, they encouraged Poles 
who had settled in Belorussia during the time of Polish control 
(and who were frequently at odds with the Belorussians) to 
become involved in the government. 

When the front began moving westward, many Belorussians 
had to choose between two evils: life with the Soviets or depar- 
ture into exile. Many Belorussians decided to flee, and tens of 
thousands of them found themselves in Germany and Austria 
toward the end of World War II. Some of those who had been 
deported as forced laborers to Germany agreed to go back to 
Belorussia, only to be redeported by the communists to Siberia 
or other remote places in the Soviet Union. All those who fled 
voluntarily to the West eventually settled in Germany, in other 
West European countries, or overseas. 

Stalin and Russification 

The country's misery did not end in the summer of 1944, 
when the Red Army "liberated" it from the Nazis. Stalin 
ordered sweeping purges and mass deportations of local 
administrators and members of the communist party, as well as 
those who had collaborated with the Nazis in any way, those 
who had spent the war in slave labor and prison camps in Ger- 
many and were now "ideologically contaminated" in Stalin's 
view, those who were suspected of anti-Soviet sentiments, and 
those who were accused of "bourgeois nationalism." Only in 
1971 did the Belorussian SSR return to its pre-World War II 
population level, but without its large Jewish populace (see 
Ethnic Composition, this ch.). 

The wartime devastation of Belorussia — the loss of people, 
homes, animals, public buildings, educational and cultural 
resources, roads, communications, health care facilities, and 
the entire industrial base — was complete. To make up for the 
industrial loss, Stalin ordered the building of new factories and 
plants, which were more modern and thus more efficient than 
most of those elsewhere in the Soviet Union. 

One of the devices Stalin used to "protect" Belorussia (and 
the rest of the Soviet Union) against possible Western influ- 
ences was a program of intensive Russification, thus creating a 
buffer zone for Russia along the Polish border. Consequently, 
most key positions in Minsk, as well as in the western provincial 
cities of Hrodna (Grodno in Russian) and Brest, were filled by 



23 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Russians sent from elsewhere in the Soviet Union. The Belorus- 
sian language was unofficially banned from use by the govern- 
ment, educational and cultural institutions, and the mass 
media, and Belorussian national culture was suppressed by 
Moscow This so-called cultural cleansing intensified greatly 
after 1959, when Nikita S. Khrushchev, the leader of the Com- 
munist Party of the Soviet Union (GPSU — see Glossary) at the 
time, pronounced in Minsk, "The sooner we all start speaking 
Russian, the faster we shall build communism." The resistance 
of some students, writers, and intellectuals in Minsk during the 
1960s and 1970s was met with harassment by the Committee 
for State Security (KGB — see Glossary) and firing from jobs 
rather than arrests. Among the best-known dissidents were the 
writer Vasil' Bykaw, the historian Mykola Prashkovich, and the 
worker Mikhal Kukabaka, who spent seventeen years in con- 
finement. 

The Era of Perestroika 

The early days of Mikhail S. Gorbachev's perestroika (see 
Glossary) in Belorussia were highlighted by two major events: 
the Chornobyl' disaster of April 26, 1986 (the Belorussian SSR 
absorbed 70 percent of the radioactive contaminants spewed 
out by the reactor), and a December 1986 petition sent by 
twenty-eight intellectuals to Gorbachev expressing the Belorus- 
sian people's fundamental grievances in the field of culture ("a 
cultural Chornobyl' "). 

Whereas the full impact of the physical effects of Chornobyl' 
was kept secret for more than three years, the "cultural Chor- 
nobyl' " became a subject of hot discussion and an inspiration 
for considerable political activity. The petition pleaded with 
Gorbachev to prevent the "spiritual extinction" of the Belorus- 
sian nation and laid out measures for the introduction of 
Belarusian as a working language in party, state, and local gov- 
ernment bodies and at all levels of education, publishing, mass 
media, and other fields. 

The document embodied the aspirations of a considerable 
part of the national intelligentsia, who, having received no pos- 
itive answer from the CPSU leadership either in Moscow or in 
Minsk, took to the streets. A number of independent youth 
groups sprang up, many of which embraced the national cause. 
In July 1988, the Organizational Committee of the Confedera- 
tion of Belarusian Youth Associations called for "support of the 
radical restructuring of Belorussia." 



24 



Belarus 



In June 1988, mass graves, allegedly with up to 250,000 of 
Stalin's victims, were found near Minsk at Kurapaty. This sensa- 
tional discovery fueled denunciations of the old regime and 
brought demands for reforms. An October demonstration, 
attended by about 10,000 people and dispersed by riot police, 
commemorated these victims and expressed support for the 
Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), which had been formed ear- 
lier in the month in hopes of encouraging reform. 

The group of activists who called for reform was relatively 
small; most people, although angry about the mass graves, 
remained both attached to Soviet ways and politically apa- 
thetic, believing that all these public activities would make no 
difference in the long run. The March 4, 1990, elections to the 
republic's Supreme Soviet (see Glossary) illustrated the extent 
of political apathy and ideological inertia. Of the 360 seats in 
the legislature, fifteen were unfilled (at least eleven remained 
so more than a year later); of those elected, 86 percent 
belonged to the Communist Party of Belorussia (CPB). This 
conservative majority was not alone in slowing the pace of 
reforms. A majority of the republic's population, 83 percent, 
also voted conservatively in the March 17 all-union referendum 
on the preservation of the Soviet Union, even though the 
Supreme Soviet of the Belorussian SSR adopted the Declara- 
tion of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist 
Republic on June 2V, 1990 (following the Russian example of 
some two weeks earlier). 

A series of strikes in April 1991 put an end to the republic's 
reputation as the quietest of the European Soviet republics. 
The demands were mainly economic (higher wages and cancel- 
lation of a new sales tax), but some were also political (resigna- 
tion of the government and depoliticization of republic 
institutions). Certain economic demands were met, but the 
political ones were not. However, increasing dissent within the 
party led to thirty-three CPB deputies joining the opposition as 
the Communists for Democracy faction one month later. 

Independent Belarus 

Following the August 1991 coup d'etat (see Glossary) in 
Moscow and declarations of independence by Estonia, Latvia, 
and Ukraine, the Supreme Soviet in Minsk declared the inde- 
pendence of Belarus on August 25, 1991, by giving its Declara- 
tion of State Sovereignty the status of a constitutional 
document and renaming the country the Republic of Belarus. 



25 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

The disorientation that overtook the communists in the 
wake of the coup was used by liberals and nationalist reformers 
in various structures to advance their cause: the Supreme 
Soviet forced the resignation of its chairman, Mikalay Dzyem- 
yantsyey for siding with the coup leaders and replaced him 
with his deputy Stanislaw Shushkyevich; all CPB property was 
nationalized; the name of the state was officially changed from 
the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic of 
Belarus; and the CPB was temporarily suspended while its role 
in the coup was investigated. 

Shushkyevich' s support for the continuation of some kind 
of union culminated on December 8, 1991, in his signing of 
the Minsk Agreement (see Appendix B), which established the 
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS — see Glossary). 
On December 21, eleven former Soviet republics expanded the 
CIS by issuing the Alma-Ata Declaration (see Appendix C). 
Minsk became the headquarters of the CIS. 

After much negotiation and considerable revision, the Sup- 
reme Soviet adopted a new constitution, which went into effect 
on March 30, 1994. The new document created the office of 
president, declared Belarus a democracy with separation of 
powers, granted freedom of religion, and proclaimed Belarus's 
goal of becoming a neutral, nonnuclear state. The winner of 
the quickly organized election was Alyaksandr Lukashyenka, 
whose sentiments and policies seemed destined to reunite 
Belarus with Russia in some way. Treaties were signed with Rus- 
sia that made political concessions to the latter in hopes of cre- 
ating economic advantages for Belarus. And there were clashes 
with parliament over the issue of presidential powers. 

In the campaigning for the May 1995 parliamentary elec- 
tions, continuing censorship of the media's campaign coverage 
demonstrated the less-than-democratic nature of the state. In 
response to the lack of information and as a consequence of 
continued political apathy on the part of the populace, two 
rounds of elections failed to elect enough deputies to seat a 
new Supreme Soviet. And Lukashyenka continued to accumu- 
late power through his appointments and dismissals. 

Physical Environment 

Topography and Drainage 

Belarus, a generally flat country (the average elevation is 
162 meters above sea level) without natural borders, occupies 



26 



Children amusing 
themselves in a park on a 
Sunday afternoon, Minsk 
Courtesy Jim Doran 



Young girls in folk costumes 
Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk 




27 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

an area of 207,600 square kilometers, or slightly less than the 
state of Kansas. Its neighbors are Russia to the east and north- 
east, Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to 
the west, and Ukraine to the south. 

Belarus's mostly level terrain is broken up by the Belarusian 
Range (Byelaruskaya Hrada) , a swath of elevated territory com- 
posed of individual highlands that runs diagonally through the 
country from west-southwest to east-northeast. Its highest point 
is the 346-meter Mount Dzyarzhynskaya (Dzerzhinskaya in Rus- 
sian), named for Feliks Dzerzhinskiy, head of Russia's security 
apparatus under Stalin. Northern Belarus has a picturesque, 
hilly landscape with many lakes and gently sloping ridges cre- 
ated by glacial debris. In the south, about one-third of the 
republic's territory around the Prypyats' (Pripyat 1 in Russian) 
River is taken up by the low-lying swampy plain of the Belaru- 
sian Woodland, or Palyessye (Poles'ye in Russian). 

Belarus's 3,000 streams and 4,000 lakes are major features of 
the landscape and are used for floating timber, shipping, and 
power generation. Major rivers are the west-flowing Dzvina 
Zakhodnyaya (Zapadnaya Dvina in Russian) and Nyoman 
(Neman in Russian) rivers and the south-flowing Dnyapro 
(Dnepr in Russian) with its tributaries, the Byarezina (Berezina 
in Russian), Sozh, and Prypyats' rivers. The Prypyats' River has 
served as a bridge between the Dnyapro flowing to Ukraine 
and the Vistula in Poland since the period of Kievan Rus'. Lake 
Narach (Naroch' in Russian), the country's largest lake, covers 
eighty square kilometers. 

Nearly one-third of the country is covered with pushchy 
(sing., pushcha), large unpopulated tracts of forests. In the 
north, conifers predominate in forests that also include birch 
and alder; farther south, other deciduous trees grow. The 
Belavezhskaya (Belovezhskaya in Russian) Pushcha in the far 
west is the oldest and most magnificent of the forests; a reserva- 
tion here shelters animals and birds that became extinct else- 
where long ago. The reservation spills across the border into 
Poland; both countries administer it jointly. 

Climate 

Because of the proximity of the Baltic Sea (257 kilometers at 
the closest point), the country's climate is temperate continen- 
tal. Winters last between 105 and 145 days, and summers last 
up to 150 days. The average temperature in January is -6°C, 
and the average temperature for July is about 18°C, with high 



28 



Belarus 



humidity. Average annual precipitation ranges from 550 to 700 
millimeters and is sometimes excessive. 

Environmental Concerns 

The most notorious legacy of pollution from the communist 
era is the April 26, 1986, accident at the Chornobyl' nuclear 
power plant in Ukraine. Some 70 percent of the radiation 
spewed was carried by the wind to Belarus, where it affected at 
least 25 percent of the country — especially Homyel' (Gomel' in 
Russian) and Mahilyow (Mogilev in Russian) voblastsi (sing., 
voblasts'), or counties, in the south and southeast, and 22 per- 
cent of the population. Although more than 2 million people 
(including 600,000 children) lived in areas affected by fallout 
from the disaster, the Soviet government tried to cover up the 
accident until Swedish scientists pressed for an explanation of 
the unusually high levels of atmospheric radiation in Sweden. 

The Belorussian government's request to the Soviet govern- 
ment for a minimum of 17 billion rubles to deal with the conse- 
quences was answered with Moscow's offer of only 3 billion 
rubles. According to one official in 1993, the per capita expen- 
diture on the accident was one kopek in Russia, three kopeks 
in Ukraine, and one ruble (100 kopeks) in Belarus. 

Despite the government's establishment of the State Com- 
mittee for Chornobyl', the enactment of laws limiting who 
could stay in contaminated areas, and the institution of a 
national program for research on the effects, little progress was 
made in coping with the consequences of the disaster, owing to 
the lack of money and the government's sluggish attitude. In 
1994 a resettlement program for 170,000 residents was woefully 
underbudgeted and far behind schedule. To assist victims of 
the Chornobyl' disaster, a Western organization, the Know-How 
Fund, provided many Belarusian doctors with training in the 
latest bone-marrow techniques used in Europe and the United 
States. 

The long-range effects of the disaster include an increasing 
incidence of various kinds of cancer and birth defects. Congen- 
ital defects in newborns are reported to be 40 percent higher 
than before the accident. Tainted water, livestock, farm pro- 
duce, and land are widespread, and the extensive wetlands 
retain high concentrations of radiation. Cleanup of the disaster 
accounted for 14 percent of the state budget in 1995. Other 
environmental problems include widespread chemical pollu- 



29 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

tion of the soil, which shows excessive pesticide levels, and the 
industrial pollution found in nearly all the large cities. 

Population and Ethnic Composition 

Population Characteristics 

In July 1994, an estimated 10,404,862 people (fifty persons 
per square kilometer) lived in Belarus, with additional popula- 
tions of ethnic Belarusians (see Glossary) living in Poland, Rus- 
sia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. 
Ethnic Belarusians in the West (living primarily in Britain, Ger- 
many, France, Belgium, the United States, Canada, and Argen- 
tina) numbered more than 1 million. 

In 1994 the annual population growth rate was estimated at 
0.32 percent, resulting from a birth rate of 13.1 births per 
1,000 population, a death rate of 11.2 deaths per 1,000 popula- 
tion, and a net migration rate of 1.3 persons per 1,000 popula- 
tion. The birth rate had declined from 15.0 per 1,000 
population in 1989, and the death rate had increased from 
10.1 (see table 2, Appendix A). The estimated 1994 average life 
expectancy at birth in Belarus was 66.2 years for males and 75.8 
years for females. The annual population growth rate is 
expected to decrease slowly well into the next century as a 
result of fears of birth defects caused by the Chornobyl 1 acci- 
dent and the difficult economic situation (see The Economy, 
this ch.). 

Population growth in Belarus has declined because of a 
rapid drop in fertility rates (an estimated 1.9 children per 
woman in 1994) and because of a sharp increase in infant and 
child mortality, which had been in decline before the Chorno- 
byl' accident in 1986. Improvements in the infant mortality 
rate, which was estimated at 18.9 per 1,000 live births in 1994, 
were further blocked by poor maternal health, poor prenatal 
care, and frequent use of abortion as a means of birth control. 
Belarus has instituted a pronatal policy to counteract women's 
reluctance to have children, but difficult economic conditions 
and fear of birth defects caused by environmental pollution 
continue to be major causes of the decline in the birth rate. 

Falling birth rates also have contributed to the graying of 
the population (see fig. 6). This will affect the country in a 
number of ways, including the allocation of funds from its bud- 
get. With fewer workers supporting more pensioners, the 



30 



Belarus 



administration will be paying more in pensions than it collects 
in taxes (see Welfare, this ch.). 

The population's gender structure was profoundly affected 
by World War II. The large loss of male lives during the war 
ensured not only that there would be a surplus of females, but 
that this surplus would persist for at least another generation. 

A law passed in September 1992 gave the entire population 
of Belarus an automatic right to citizenship. This included all 
the ethnic Russians (see Glossary) who had moved there over 
the years, including military personnel and government offi- 
cials. However, many declined to acquire Belarusian citizen- 
ship. As a result, Belarus is sometimes represented abroad or 
administered by ethnic Russians who are residents, but not citi- 
zens, of Belarus. 

In 1992 Belarus's largest cities were Minsk, the capital, with 
1.7 million inhabitants; Homyel', with 517,000; Vitsyebsk, with 
373,000; Mahilyow, with 364,000; Hrodna, with 291,000; and 
Brest, with 284,000. The republic included more than 100 cit- 
ies and towns, twelve of which had a population of 100,000 or 
more. Of the total population, 68 percent lived in cities and 32 
percent lived in rural areas in 1994. These figures resemble 
those for the former Soviet Union as a whole. 

Ethnic Composition 

The 1989 census of the Soviet Union, its last, showed a 
mainly Slavic population in Belorussia: Belorussians (77.8 per- 
cent), Russians (13.2 percent), Poles (4.1 percent), Ukrainians 
(2.9 percent), and others (2.0 percent). Other ethnic groups 
included Lithuanians, Latvians, and Tatars. A large number of 
Russians immigrated to the Belorussian SSR immediately after 
World War II to make up for the local labor shortage, caused in 
part by Stalin's mass deportations, and to take part in rebuild- 
ing the country. Others came as part of Stalin's program of 
Russification. 

There has been little conflict with the major non-Belarusian 
group, the Russians, who account for about 13 percent of the 
population. The Russification campaign in what is now Belarus 
used a mixture of subtle and overt coercion. The campaign was 
widely successful, to the extent that Russian became the lan- 
guage of choice for much of the population. One-third of the 
respondents in a 1992 poll said they consider Russian and 
Belarusian history to be one and the same. A large number of 



31 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



AGE-GROUP 




500 400 300 200 100 100 200 300 400 500 
POPULATION IN THOUSANDS 



Source: Based on information from World Bank, Statistical Handbook: States of the Former 
USSR, Washington, 1992, 83. 

Figure 6. Population of Belarus by Age and Gender, 1990 

organized Russian cultural bodies and publications exist in 
Belarus. 

Ethnic Poles, who account for some 4 percent of the popu- 
lation, live in the western part of the country, near the Polish 
border. They have retained their traditions and their Roman 
Catholic religion, and this practice has been the cause of fric- 
tion with Orthodox Belarusians, who also see a decidedly polit- 
ical bent to these cultural activities (see Religion, this ch.). 

Ukrainians account for approximately 3 percent of the pop- 
ulation. Belarusians and Ukrainians have been on basically 
friendly terms and have faced similar problems in trying to 
maintain their ethnic and cultural identities in the face of Rus- 
sifi cation by Moscow. 

Jews have been present in Belarus since medieval times, but 
by the late eighteenth century they were restricted to the Pale 



32 



Belarus 



of Settlement and later to cities and towns within the Pale (see 
Ethnic Composition, ch. 2). Before World War II, Jews were the 
second largest ethnic group in Belorussia, accounting for more 
than 50 percent of the population in cities and towns. The 
1989 Soviet census showed that Jews made up only 1.1 percent 
of the population as the result of genocide during World War II 
and subsequent emigration. 

Language, Religion, and Culture 
Language 

"Language is not only a means of communication, but also 
the soul of a nation, the foundation and the most important 
part of its culture." So begins the January 1990 Law About Lan- 
guages in the Belorussian SSR, which made Belarusian the sole 
official language of the republic. 

The Belarusian language is an East Slavic tongue closely 
related to Russian and Ukrainian, with many loanwords from 
Polish (a West Slavic language) and more recently from Rus- 
sian (see fig. 7). The standard literary language, first codified 
in 1918, is based on the dialect spoken in the central part of 
the country and is written in the Cyrillic alphabet (see Glos- 
sary). Under Polish influence, a parallel Latin alphabet 
(lacinka) was used by some writers in the eighteenth and nine- 
teenth centuries and is still used today by some Roman Catho- 
lics in Belarus and abroad. 

One early proponent of the Belorussian language, poet 
Frantsishak Bahushyevich (1840-1900), the father of modern 
Belorussian literature and a participant in the 1863 uprising, 
was inspired by the fact that many 200- and 300-year-old docu- 
ments written in Belorussian could be read and understood 
easily in modern times. The concept of the native language as a 
repository of national identity and an expression of aspiration 
to nationhood has been the leitmotif of Belorussian literature 
and polemics beginning in the late nineteenth century. 

Although the tsarist government regarded the Belorussians 
as well as the Ukrainians as another branch of Russians, not as 
a separate nation, the Belorussian language was registered in 
the first systematic census of the Russian Empire in 1897. In the 
early 1920s, Belorussian language and culture flourished, and 
the language was promoted as the official medium of the com- 
munist party and the government as well as of scholarly, scien- 
tific, and educational establishments. Most primary and 



33 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



< 

CO 

< 
-J 
LU 
CD 




34 



Belarus 



secondary schools switched to instruction in Belorussian, and 
institutions of higher education gradually made the switch as 
well. The Belorussian State University was founded in 1921, the 
Institute of Belorussian Culture was founded in 1922, and a 
number of other institutions of higher learning also opened. 
The interests of other minorities in the republic were taken 
into account in ajuly 1924 decree that confirmed equal rights 
for the four principal languages of the republic: Belorussian, 
Polish, Russian, and Yiddish. 

With the advent of perestroika, national activists launched a 
campaign to restore the Belorussian language to the place it 
had enjoyed during the 1920s. To urge the government to 
make Belarusian the official language of the republic, the 
Belarusian Language Society was established in June 1989 with 
poet-scholar Nil Hilyevich as president. 

Belorussia's CPSU leadership, consisting almost exclusively 
of Russified technocrats, ignored all the government resolu- 
tions and decisions on languages. However, it could not ignore 
the general language trend throughout the non-Russian repub- 
lics of the Soviet Union, particularly in the neighboring Baltic 
states and Ukraine, where national movements were stronger 
and exerted an influence on events in the Belorussian SSR. 
After months of meetings, rallies, conferences, and heated 
debates in the press, on January 26, 1990, the Supreme Soviet 
voted to make Belarusian the official language of the state, 
effective September 1, 1990. The law included provisions for 
protecting the languages of minorities and allowed up to ten 
years to make the transition from Russian to Belarusian. 

Despite the provisions, implementation of the law has 
encountered both active and passive resistance: many people 
still want their children to be educated in the Russian language 
rather than in Belarusian, and some government officials agree 
to give interviews only in Russian. According to data assembled 
in 1992 by the Sociology Center of the Belarusian State Univer- 
sity, some 60 percent of those polled prefer to use Russian in 
their daily life, 75 percent favor bilingualism in state institu- 
tions, and only 17 percent favor having the government 
declare Belarusian the sole official language. One Western 
source reported that in the early 1990s, only 11 percent of the 
population, most of whom lived in the countryside, were fluent 
in Belarusian. 

Since late 1992, there had been a growing demand that the 
Russian language be given the same official status as Belaru- 



35 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

sian. The answer to a question of whether Russian should be an 
official language, one of four questions in a May 1995 referen- 
dum, put an end to any uncertainty: the populace voted "yes." 

Religion 

Before 1917 Belorussia had 2,466 religious congregations, 
including 1,650 Orthodox, 127 Roman Catholic, 657 Jewish, 
thirty-two Protestant, and several Muslim communities. Under 
the communists (who were officially atheists), the activities of 
these congregations were severely restricted. Many religious 
congregations were destroyed and their leaders exiled or exe- 
cuted; the remaining congregations were sometimes co-opted 
by the government for its own ends, as in the effort to instill 
patriotism during World War II. 

In 1993 one Belarusian publication reported the numbers 
of religious congregations as follows: Orthodox, 787; Roman 
Catholic, 305; Pentecostal, 170; Baptist, 141; Old Believer (an 
Orthodox sect; see Glossary), twenty-six; Seventh-Day Adven- 
tist, seventeen; Apostolic Christian, nine; Uniate, eight; New 
Apostolic, eight; Muslim, eight; Jewish, seven; and other, fif- 
teen. 

Although the Orthodox Church was devastated during 
World War II and continued to decline until the early 1980s 
because of government policies, it underwent a small revival 
with the onset of perestroika and the celebration in 1988 of the 
1,000-year anniversary of Christianity in Russia. In 1990 
Belorussia was designated an exarchate (see Glossary) of the 
Russian Orthodox Church, creating the Belarusian Orthodox 
Church. In the early 1990s, 60 percent of the population iden- 
tified themselves as Orthodox. The church had one seminary, 
three convents, and one monastery. A Belarusian theological 
academy was to be opened in 1995. 

Soviet policies toward the Roman Catholic Church were 
strongly influenced by the Catholics' recognition of an outside 
authority, the pope, as head of the church, as well as by the 
close historical ties of the church in Belorussia with Poland. In 
1989 the five official Roman Catholic dioceses, which had 
existed since World War II and had been without a bishop, 
were reorganized into five dioceses (including 455 parishes) 
and the archdiocese of Minsk and Mahilyow. In the early 1990s, 
figures for the Catholic population in Belarus ranged from 8 
percent to 20 percent; one estimate identified 25 percent of 



36 




37 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

the Catholics as ethnic Poles. The church had one seminary in 
Belarus. 

The revival of religion in Belarus in the postcommunist era 
brought about a revival of the old historical conflict between 
Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. This religious complexity 
is compounded by the two denominations' links to institutions 
outside the republic. The Belarusian Orthodox Church is 
headed by an ethnic Russian, Metropolitan Filaret, who heads 
an exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Ortho- 
dox Church. The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Belarus is 
headed by an ethnic Pole, Archbishop Kazimir Sviontak, who 
has close ties to the church in Poland. However, despite these 
ties, Archbishop Sviontak, who had been a prisoner in the 
Soviet camps and a pastor in Pinsk for many years, has prohib- 
ited the display of Polish national symbols in Catholic churches 
in Belarus. 

Fledgling Belarusian religious movements are having diffi- 
culties asserting themselves within these two major religious 
institutions because of the historical practice of preaching in 
Russian in the Orthodox churches and in Polish in the Catho- 
lic churches. Attempts to introduce the Belarusian language 
into religious life, including the liturgy, also have not met with 
wide success because of the cultural predominance of Russians 
and Poles in their respective churches, as well as the low usage 
of the Belarusian language in everyday life. 

To a certain extent, the 1991 declaration of Belarus's inde- 
pendence and the 1990 law making Belarusian the official lan- 
guage of the republic have generated a new attitude toward the 
Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Some religiously 
uncommitted young people have turned to the Uniate Church 
in reaction to the resistance of the Orthodox and Roman Cath- 
olic hierarchies to accepting the Belarusian language as a 
medium of communication with their flock. Overall, however, 
national activists have had little success in trying to generate 
new interest in the Uniate Church. 

The Uniate Church, a branch of which existed in Belarus 
from 1596 to 1839 and had some three-quarters of the Belaru- 
sian population as members when it was abolished, is reputed 
to have used Belorussian in its liturgy and pastoral work. When 
the church was reestablished in Belarus in the early 1990s, its 
adherents advertised it as a "national" church. The modest 
growth of the Uniate Church was accompanied by heated pub- 
lic debates of both a theological and a political character. 



38 



Belarus 



Because the original allegiance of the Uniate Church was 
clearly to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the reestab- 
lished church is viewed by some in the Orthodox Church in 
Belarus with suspicion, as being a vehicle of both Warsaw and 
the Vatican. 

Before World War II, the number of Protestants in Belarus 
was quite low in comparison with other Christians, but they 
have shown remarkable growth since then. In 1990 there were 
more than 350 Protestant congregations in the country. 

The first Jewish congregations appeared in Belorussia at the 
end of the fourteenth century and continued to increase until 
the genocide of World War II. Mainly urban residents, the 
country's nearly 1.3 million Jews in 1914 accounted for 50 to 60 
percent of the population in cities and towns. The Soviet cen- 
sus of 1989 counted some 142,000 Jews, or 1.1 percent of the 
population, many of whom have since emigrated. Although 
Belorussia's boundaries changed from 1914 to 1922, making 
the area smaller, a significant portion of the decrease in the 
Jewish population was the result of the war. However, with the 
new religious freedom, Jewish life in Belarus is experiencing a 
rebirth. In late 1992, there were nearly seventy Jewish organiza- 
tions active in Belarus, half of which were republic-wide. 

Muslims in Belarus are represented by small communities of 
ethnic Tatars. Many of these Tatars are descendants of emi- 
grants and prisoners of war who settled in present-day Belarus 
after the eleventh century. The supreme administration of 
Muslims in Belarus, abolished in 1939, was reestablished in Jan- 
uary 1994. 

Culture 

Belarusian culture is the product of a millennium of devel- 
opment under the impact of a number of diverse factors. 
These include the physical environment; the ethnographic 
background of Belarusians (the merger of Slavic newcomers 
with Baltic natives) ; the paganism of the early settlers and their 
hosts; Byzantine Christianity as a link to the Orthodox religion 
and its literary tradition; the country's lack of natural borders; 
the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; 
and the variety of religions in the region (Catholicism, Ortho- 
doxy, Judaism, and Islam) . 

An early Western influence on Belarusian culture was 
Magdeburg Law — charters that granted municipal self-rule and 
were based on the laws of German cities. These charters were 



39 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

granted in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by grand 
dukes and kings to a number of cities, including Brest, Hrodna, 
Slutsk, and Minsk. The tradition of self-government not only 
facilitated contacts with Western Europe but also nurtured self- 
reliance, entrepreneurship, and a sense of civic responsibility. 

In 1517-19 Frantsishak Skaryna (ca. 1490-1552) translated 
the Bible into the vernacular (Old Belorussian). Under the 
communist regime, Skaryna's work was vastly undervalued, but 
in independent Belarus he became an inspiration for the 
emerging national consciousness as much for his advocacy of 
the Belorussian language as for his humanistic ideas. 

From the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, when the 
ideas of humanism, the Renaissance, and the Reformation 
were alive in Western Europe, these ideas were debated in 
Belorussia as well because of trade relations there and because 
of the enrollment of noblemen's and burghers' sons in Western 
universities. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation also 
contributed greatly to the flourishing of polemical writings as 
well as to the spread of printing houses and schools. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when 
Poland and Russia were making deep political and cultural 
inroads in Belorussia by assimilating the nobility into their 
respective cultures, the rulers succeeded in associating Belorus- 
sian culture primarily with peasant ways, folklore, ethnic dress, 
and ethnic customs, with an overlay of Christianity. This was 
the point of departure for some national activists who 
attempted to attain statehood for their nation in the late nine- 
teenth and early twentieth centuries. 

The development of Belorussian literature, spreading the 
idea of nationhood for the Belorussians, was epitomized by the 
literary works of Yanka Kupala (1882-1942) and Yakub Kolas 
(1882-1956). The works of these poets, along with several 
other outstanding writers, became the classics of modern 
Belorussian literature. They wrote widely on rural themes (the 
countryside was where the writers heard the Belorussian lan- 
guage) and modernized the Belorussian literary language, 
which had been little used since the sixteenth century. Post- 
independence authors in the 1990s continued to use rural 
themes widely. 

Unlike literature's focus on rural life, other fields of cul- 
ture — painting, sculpture, music, film, and theater — centered 
on urban reality, universal concerns, and universal values. 



40 



Belarus 



Education, Health, and Welfare 
Education 

In Belarus education is compulsory for ten years, from ages 
seven to seventeen. Primary school, generally starting at age 
seven and lasting for five years, is followed by an additional five 
years of secondary school. These schools fall into three catego- 
ries: general, teacher training, and vocational. Institutions of 
higher education include three universities, four polytechnical 
institutes, and a number of colleges specializing in agricultural 
or technical sciences. 

In early 1992, some 60 percent of eligible children attended 
preschool institutions in Belarus. During the 1993-94 school 
year, Belarus had 1.5 million children in 5,187 primary and sec- 
ondary schools, 175,400 students in thirty-three institutions of 
higher education, and 129,200 students in 148 technical col- 
leges. According to the 1989 census, the literacy rate was 98 
percent. 

During the communist era, education was mainly con- 
ducted in the Russian language; by 1987 there were no Belorus- 
sian-language schools in any of the republic's urban areas. 
When Belarusian was adopted as the country's official lan- 
guage in 1990, children were to be taught in Belarusian as early 
as primary school; Russian language, history, and literature 
were to be replaced with Belarusian language, history, and lit- 
erature. However, Russian remains the main language of 
instruction in both secondary schools and institutions of 
higher education. 

Health 

Belarus's health care system is in poor shape and fails to 
meet the needs of the population, as is common for the former 
republics of the Soviet Union. The communist era's neglect of 
this sphere, poorly trained staff, and substandard technology 
have resulted in a system in which basic medical services are 
sorely lacking, contributing to the poor health of the popula- 
tion. The added strains of caring for victims of the Chornobyl' 
accident have overwhelmed the system. In 1994 there were 127 
hospital beds and forty-two doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. The 
country had 131,000 hospital beds at 868 hospitals. The most 
common causes of death were cardiovascular disease, cancer, 
accidents, and respiratory disease. 



41 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

The Republic Center on AIDS was created in 1990 to coor- 
dinate all activities for prevention of the human immunodefi- 
ciency virus (HIV) and control of acquired immune deficiency 
syndrome (AIDS) . There is mandatory HIV testing of all hospi- 
tal inpatients and extensive testing of high-risk populations, 
such as homosexuals, prostitutes, and prisoners. By the end of 
1991, seventy cases of HIV-positive individuals were identified, 
forty of whom were foreigners. However, because HIV testing 
kits (as well as other medical supplies) had been supplied by 
Moscow before the breakup of the Soviet Union, there was 
doubt as to whether testing could continue at the same level. 

Welfare 

Belarus's social safety net, largely a continuation of what 
existed in the former Soviet Union, is based on a guarantee of 
employment and a number of allowances and benefits for par- 
ticular needs. Benefits were indexed to inflation in January 
1991 (benefits are adjusted at the same rate as the minimum 
wage), and the system was expanded in 1991-92, partly to alle- 
viate the social costs of switching to a market economy. The 
safety net had been a growing concern to the government 
because in the early 1990s it accounted for a large share of gen- 
eral government expenditures. Benefits were funded either 
directly by the budget or by two major social funds. 

The government's greatest social expenditures are for pen- 
sions. The relatively low retirement age (fifty-five for women 
and sixty for men) and the country's demographic structure 
account for the large number of pensioners. In January 1992, 
the minimum pension was raised to 350 Belarusian rubles (for 
value of the Belarusian ruble — see Glossary) per month, the 
same as the minimum wage. The Pension Law of January 1993 
based pensions on income earned at the time of retirement 
and on length of employment; the pensions of those who did 
not contribute to the Pension Fund during their years of 
employment are linked to the minimum wage. In January 
1994, Belarus had nearly 2 million old-age pensioners and 
600,000 persons receiving other types of pensions. 

Legislation passed in late 1992 permits families to receive 
allowances for children above age three only if they meet cer- 
tain eligibility requirements based on income. Previously, fami- 
lies with children up to sixteen years of age (eighteen years of 
age for those in secondary schools) had automatically received 
allowances based on the minimum wage. The program has 



42 



4& 




Doctors operating at a specialized medical institute, Minsk 

Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk 



been hampered by problems in testing for eligibility, however, 
because of difficulties in assessing income and because of tax 
evasion by the self-employed. 

Unemployment compensation is provided for six months. 
Benefits are related to earnings for those who work for more 
than a year and also work continuously for the twelve weeks 
before separation. For those who work less than a year, benefits 
are tied to the minimum wage. Because the eligibility criteria 
for unemployment benefits are quite stringent, half of the reg- 
istered unemployed are without benefits. In February 1995, 
some 52 percent of the unemployed received unemployment 
compensation. In early 1995, women accounted for more than 
62 percent of the unemployed. 

The government provides a number of other benefits, 
including lump-sum grants upon the birth of each child; tem- 
porary disability allowances; treatment at sanatoria, spas, vaca- 



43 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

tion resorts, and other facilities; and benefits for victims of the 
Chornobyl' disaster. 

Housing 

In Belarus about 75 percent of urban housing and many vil- 
lage homes were destroyed during World War II, forcing many 
people to live in makeshift huts and hovels while housing 
(along with industrial and public buildings) was reconstructed 
after the war. This chronic housing shortage was recently exac- 
erbated by the need to resettle Chornobyl' victims. In 1993 per 
capita housing space was approximately nineteen square 
meters (slightly less in urban areas), small by Western stan- 
dards. As is true for most of the former Soviet Union, much of 
Belarus's urban housing stock consists of drab multistory, pre- 
fabricated units. The norm for rural housing is individual 
homes, which tend to be of a higher quality. 

In July 1992, the Law on Privatization of Housing was 
passed, but little progress was made until mid-1993, when 
amendments were made to the laws to reassess housing values. 
Plans called for citizens to receive housing vouchers, which 
could not be exchanged for cash. In 1993 private housing 
accounted for 49 percent of the housing stock in Belarus. 

The Economy 

Belarus is a graphic example of the problems created when 
an industrial "colony" becomes independent. The Belorussian 
SSR had imported the bulk of its raw materials, components, 
and energy from the Soviet Union and exported most of what 
it produced (much of it for the military-industrial complex) 
back to the Soviet Union. The country's economy, which had 
been integrated into that of the Soviet Union, found itself 
deprived of most of the essential components it needed to 
function independently when the Soviet system collapsed. 

Independent Belarus's economy, like that of the Belorussian 
SSR, still relies on inefficient, state-supported, industrial facili- 
ties, which are increasingly hampered by their need for fuels 
whose prices are gradually reaching world levels. The eco- 
nomic recession in Belarus intensified in 1994, leading to 
Belarus's worst economic year to that point. In 1994 the net 
material product (NMP — see Glossary) had dropped by 21 per- 
cent from 1993 (down by more than one-third from its 1989 
level), which was worse than in the two previous years; this 



44 




Typical modern rural housing in the village ofMorach, Kletsk rayon 

Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk 
Modern urban housing, Maladzyechna 
Courtesy John Mumford 



45 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

decline was felt across the board. Agriculture now accounted 
for 36 percent of NMP, industry for 44 percent, transportation 
and communications for 3 percent, construction for 12 per- 
cent, and the remaining sectors for 5 percent. 

Government Policy 

Although the government's stated goals during the first 
years of independence included promoting a market economy, 
normalizing monetary circulation, and lowering the country's 
dependence on monopoly suppliers, these goals were not met. 
Inflation and depreciation in the exchange rate stemmed from 
the government's compensation for decreased living standards 
and lower industrial output through subsidies (rather than 
changes in the country's economic structure and adoption of 
market reforms). 

The government's economic timidity was prompted not 
only by the wish to maintain the status quo but also by a fear of 
the social consequences. Years earlier, calls for political action 
did not stir the populace, but the populace reacted dramati- 
cally to sudden price increases. In April 1991, demonstrations 
occurred in Minsk, Orsha, and other cities, frightening the gov- 
ernment into wage concessions, a slowdown of reforms, and 
promises not to neglect the "social protection net" so as to 
avoid a repeat of such economically motivated unrest. 

As of mid-1995, the government continued to look for easy 
solutions to its economic problems. It neglected privatization 
and price liberalization, instead continuing to increase mini- 
mum wages to offset minor price increases and to prop up out- 
dated factories. 

Privatization 

A conservative parliament and a lack of political will have 
slowed privatization in Belarus in comparison with other 
former Soviet republics. Although the Law on Privatization of 
State Property was approved in January 1993, the Supreme 
Soviet did not approve the 1993 State Program of Privatization 
and the Law on Privatization Checks (vouchers) until that sum- 
mer. By the end of the year, less than 2 percent of all republic 
assets slated for privatization had actually been transferred to 
the private sector. To speed the pace of privatization, the State 
Committee on Privatization was converted into a ministry with 
an expanded staff in March 1994. 



46 



Belarus 



The State Program of Privatization calls for two-thirds of 
state enterprises (see Glossary) to be privatized during 1993- 
2000. Exemptions include defense-related industries, monopo- 
lies (such as utilities), and specialized enterprises working with 
gems and precious metals. Enterprises of strategic importance 
can be privatized only with the approval of the Cabinet of Min- 
isters, and agricultural monopolies can be privatized only with 
the approval of the Anti-Monopoly Committee. 

According to the privatization law, 50 percent of each entity 
slated for privatization will be distributed to the populace via 
vouchers, and 50 percent will be sold for cash; the prices of the 
entities will be adjusted for inflation. (There are separate 
vouchers for housing and property.) Every citizen was eligible 
to apply for privatization vouchers and to open a voucher 
account at the Savings Bank (Sbyerbank) as of April 1, 1994. 
The entitlement is twenty property vouchers per citizen plus 
one voucher for each year worked, with additional allocations 
for orphans, the disabled, and war veterans. All vouchers are 
scheduled to be distributed by January 1, 1996. 

In 1995 the practice was quite different from the theory. 
Privatization of large firms, delayed by the government under 
various pretexts, had not even started. (Much resistance to 
privatization also came from factory managers and politicians, 
particularly at the local level.) At best, some 10 percent of state 
enterprises had been privatized. Privatization plans for 1995 
call for another 500 state-owned enterprises (4 percent of the 
total) to be privatized. 

Agriculture 

In 1993 agriculture and forestry accounted for almost one- 
quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP — see Glossary) 
and almost 6 percent of the total agricultural output of the 
former Soviet Union (Belarus has 4 percent of the former 
Soviet labor force). Agriculture employed 20 percent of the 
labor force. 

During the Soviet era, agriculture in Belarus consisted 
mainly of state and collective farms, with a sprinkling of small 
plots for private household use. In the early 1990s, the govern- 
ment based its agricultural policies on that legacy. Instead of 
disrupting the production of food for both domestic consump- 
tion and export, the authorities decided to maintain the large- 
scale farming for which they believed the existing equipment 
and capital stock were best suited. In 1994 the Ministry of Agri- 



47 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



A 



• Hrodna 

A 



Polatsk 
ft 



• Maladzyechna 
fl® Minsk 



# * 



Vitsyebski 
S3 • 



3 



\* Sresf 

® 



P/'ns/c 



G 
A 



El «J 

Homyel' m U 
® * 

B 



9 



National capital 
Populated place 
Industry 
Textiles 
Shipbuilding 
Building materials 



ft 

© 

A 
G 

# 



Paper products 

Oil refining 

Thermal energy 

Peat 

Grain 

Flax 



o 

B 
D 
F 



Potatoes 
Beef cattle 
Dairy cattle 
Forestry 

100 Kilometers 



Source: Based on information from Lerner Publications Company, Geography 
Department, Belarus, Minneapolis, 1993, 46. 

Figure 8. Economic Activity in Belarus, 1995 

culture planned to transform collective and state farms (see 
Glossary) into joint-stock companies that would be agricultur- 
ally efficient and would keep providing most of the social ser- 
vices in rural areas. 

In March 1993, Belarus added the Law on the Right to Land 
Ownership to its Land Lease Law (March 1990). The law on 
land ownership limited purchases to small parcels for housing 
and orchards, stated that farming would depend on leased 
land, and allowed private farmers to lease only up to fifty hec- 
tares on long-term leases. This law meant that Belarus would 
not develop a private farming sector and that farming would 



48 



Belarus 



stay in the hands of the government, which owned the collec- 
tive and state farms. 

In 1993 private agriculture accounted for 37 percent of all 
agricultural output, reflecting the increase in the number of 
private farms from eighty-four in 1990 to 2,730 in 1993. How- 
ever, the average size of private farms remained small: twenty- 
one hectares in 1993, compared with 3,114 hectares on average 
for collective farms and 3,052 hectares for state farms. In addi- 
tion, private plots on large farms in rural areas and garden 
plots in urban areas continue to provide a significant amount 
of food, just as they did in the Soviet era. 

Belarus can be divided into three agricultural regions: 
north (growing mainly flax, fodder, grasses, and cattle), central 
(potatoes and pigs), and south (pastureland, hemp, and cat- 
tle) . Belarus's cool climate and dense soil are well suited to fod- 
der crops, which support herds of cattle and pigs, and 
temperate-zone crops (wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, pota- 
toes, flax, and sugar beets). Belarus's soils are generally fertile, 
especially in the river valleys, except in the southern marshy 
regions (see fig. 8). 

Despite the progress made by the agricultural sector in 
1993, it suffered a setback in 1994. A drought during the sum- 
mer contributed to a decline of 19 percent in the Belarusian 
crop. Wheat production declined 35 percent from the previous 
year, while sugar beet production declined 31 percent and 
potato production declined 29 percent. Animal products 
declined 11 percent; the number of cows decreased 2 percent, 
and the number of sheep declined 30 percent. 

The greatest changes in agriculture in the first half of the 
1990s were a decline in the amount of land under cultivation 
and a significant shift from livestock to crop production — 
because crops had become much more profitable than before 
(see table 3, Appendix A) . The sales price for crops generally 
increased more than production costs, while inputs for live- 
stock (such as imported fodder) increased in price beyond live- 
stock sales prices. Many private farms faced difficulties, caused 
partly by inflation, which wreaked havoc on preset contract 
prices, delayed payments, and budget subsidies. 

In early 1993, Belarus's government replaced the system of 
"recommended" agricultural producer prices with "support" 
prices, which were intended as minimum guaranteed prices 
and could be adjusted in accord with price increases in agricul- 
tural inputs. Meat prices were deregulated in the summer of 



49 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

1993, and direct budgetary subsidies were no longer provided 
to the agriculture sector at all. 

Basic foods were watched closely, however, and sometimes 
"re-protected." For example, prices were reset on rationed 
sugar in February 1994 in response to a sharp increase in its 
market price. Another problem was lower food prices in 
Belarus than in neighboring countries; the government main- 
tained subsidies on food to keep prices low for the people of 
Belarus. Nonetheless, these subsidies strained the budget while 
encouraging increased informal exports of food, or "food tour- 
ism," from neighboring countries. 

Because the agricultural sector is in critical condition, partly 
the consequence of a drought in the summer of 1994 that 
reduced agricultural output by nearly 25 percent, the govern- 
ment gave agriculture a special place in the 1995 budget. Presi- 
dent Lukashyenka gave collective and state farms credits 
totaling 520 million rubles to facilitate sowing and to purchase 
fertilizer. In addition, by implementing sizable price increases 
for dairy products, pork products, and beef, the government 
hoped to increase production of these commodities. 

Forests cover nearly one-third of Belarus and are the source 
of raw materials for production of matches, pressboard, ply- 
wood, furniture, timbers for coal mines, paper, paperboard, 
and sections of prefabricated houses. However, during the 
Soviet era, Belarus's forests were poorly managed and were 
logged faster than they were replanted. In 1991 the country 
produced 6.7 million cubic meters of timber. 

An ongoing problem facing agriculture is soil depletion, 
because of a severe fertilizer shortage, and a serious lack of 
equipment. For many farmers, the answer to the latter, as well 
as to the cost and shortage of fuel, is a return to horse-drawn 
ploughs. 

The main enduring problem affecting the agricultural and 
forestry sector is the Chornobyl' disaster of 1986. Belarus 
absorbed the bulk of the radioactive fallout from the explosion 
because of weather conditions on the day of the disaster. Long- 
term radiation affects 18 percent of Belarus's most productive 
farmland and 20 percent of its forests. Despite the Chornobyl' 
accident, in 1993 Belarus was still a net exporter of meat, milk, 
eggs, flour, and potatoes to other former Soviet republics, 
although its exports were routinely tested for radioactive con- 
tamination. 



50 



outdoor flower market at the train station, Minsk 

Courtesy Jim Doran 
Outdoor market for automobile parts, Minsk 
Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk 



51 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 
Industry 

In 1985, in the early days of perestroika, Belarus specialized 
mainly in machine building and instrument building (espe- 
cially tractors, large trucks, machine tools, and automation 
equipment) and in agricultural production. Because of the vast 
devastation caused by World War II, the republic's industrial 
base was of postwar vintage, enabling it to maintain higher 
labor productivity than many other former republics of the 
Soviet Union, which were burdened with older, prewar equip- 
ment. 

In 1992 industry in Belarus accounted for approximately 38 
percent of GDP, down from 51 percent in 1991. This figure 
reflects a decline in the availability of imported inputs (espe- 
cially crude oil and gas deliveries from Russia), a drop in invest- 
ments, and decreased demand from Belarus's traditional 
export markets among the former Soviet republics. Belarus's 
economy has also been affected by decreased demand for mili- 
tary equipment, traditionally an important sector. Attempts to 
convert military production to civilian production were largely 
unsuccessful as of 1995. 

By 1993 Belarus also produced petrochemicals, plastics, syn- 
thetic fibers, fertilizer, processed food, glass, and textiles (see 
table 4, Appendix A). Even though Belarus continued its pro- 
duction of electronic instruments and computers, specialties 
from the communist era, the quality of these goods restricted 
them mainly for export to former Soviet republics. 

In 1994 gross industrial output declined by 19 percent. At 
the beginning of 1995, every industrial sector had decreased 
output, including fuel and energy extraction (down by 27 per- 
cent); chemical and oil refining (18 percent); ferrous metal- 
lurgy (13 percent); machine building and metal working (17 
percent); truck production (31 percent); tractor production 
(48 percent); light industry (33 percent); wood, paper, and 
pulp production (14 percent); construction materials (32 per- 
cent); and consumer goods (16 percent). 

Mining 

Although not rich in minerals, Belarus has been found to 
have small deposits of iron ore, nonferrous metal ores, dolo- 
mite, potash (for fertilizer production), rock salt, phospho- 
rites, refractory clay, molding sand, sand for glass production, 
and various building materials. Belarus also has deposits of 



52 



Belarus 



industrial diamonds, titanium, copper ore, lead, mercury, 
bauxite, nickel, vanadium, and amber, but little progress has 
been made in exploiting them. 

Energy 

Belarus' s transition from communism to democracy proved 
to be more difficult than expected, economically as well as 
politically. What had once been a boon to industry in the 
Belorussian SSR — large volumes of inexpensive oil, natural gas, 
and electricity from the Russian Republic — quickly became a 
considerable problem for independent Belarus. Under the 
communist regime, industry had had no incentive to use fuels 
efficiently, modernize equipment, reduce pollution, maintain 
factories adequately, recycle, or allot energy resources effi- 
ciently. However, once Russian fuel prices began to approach 
world levels, Belarusian industry had to adjust in order to sur- 
vive. Logic would seem to call for enterprises to improve their 
industrial efficiency, but the oil refineries at Navapolatsk 
(Novopolotsk in Russian) (capacity 22 million tons a year) and 
Mazyr (Mozyr' in Russian) (capacity 18 million tons a year), as 
well as many other enterprises, cut their output instead. The 30 
percent drop in energy consumption between 1990 and 1993 
was the result of a drop in demand for industrial goods pro- 
duced in Belarus, partly because of the chaotic state of the 
Soviet economy in the last years of the Soviet Union's exist- 
ence, and partly because the Soviet Union no longer needed so 
many goods for its military. 

By mid-1993 Belarus's debt to Russia for oil and natural gas 
had reached US$450 million. After several warnings, Russia 
temporarily cut off Belarus's supply in August and threatened 
to do so again on at least two other occasions. In an attempt to 
head off a crisis, government authorities resorted to allocating 
energy to priority sectors in 1994. 

Russia suspended fuel shipments to Belarus yet again in 
September 1994 over unpaid fuel bills. This was the impetus 
for Belarus to sign an agreement giving the Russian state gas 
company ownership of its Belarusian counterpart, Byeltrans- 
gaz, in exchange for the resumption of gas deliveries, but the 
agreement was not ratified by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. 
Byeltransgaz made additional offers of means of repayment, 
and Russia countered with conditions of its own and hinted 
that failure to meet these conditions would result in Russia's 



53 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

rerouting of pipelines to Western Europe through either 
Lithuania or Latvia — a blow to Belarus. 

Because delivery of natural gas in 1995 at lower-than-world 
prices was made contingent on Belarus's timely payment of its 
bills, Belarus felt the need to diversify its sources of fuels. The 
government's long-term energy program, in place in early 
1995, sought to diversify its sources of fuels from such countries 
as Poland, Australia, Turkmenistan, and Norway. 

In 1993 Belarus imported some 90 percent of its fuel from 
Russia via the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline and the 
Northern Lights natural gas pipeline, both of which pass 
through the country en route to Central Europe. Refineries at 
Polatsk and Mazyr process some of the crude oil for fuel, and 
the Polatsk refinery also provides raw material for fertilizer, 
plastics, and artificial fibers. In 1992 Belarus had 1,470 kilome- 
ters of pipeline carrying crude oil, 1,100 kilometers of pipeline 
carrying refined products, and 1,980 kilometers of pipeline 
carrying natural gas. 

In January 1995, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement 
under which Russia was to deliver some 66 percent of Belarus's 
yearly required crude oil at prices that did not exceed domestic 
Russian prices (which were set to rise significantly over the 
course of the year). In exchange, Belarus would export prod- 
ucts to Russia, although finding enough products that Russia 
wants could be a problem. 

Although Belarus imports most of its fuels, it has small 
deposits of oil and natural gas close to the Polish border, as well 
as oil shale, coal, and lignite. Belarus's production of 13 per- 
cent (2 million tons) of its crude oil production and 2 percent 
(2.4 million tons) of its natural gas consumption was stable in 
1994. 

Belarus also has a large supply of peat (more than one-third 
of the total for the former Soviet Union), which is used to 
power industry, heat homes, and fuel boilers at electric power 
plants. In 1993 thirty-seven factories produced about 2 million 
tons of peat briquettes. 

In 1994 Belarus's twenty-two thermal power plants had a 
production capacity of 7,033 megawatts and produced 31,400 
million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Additional small power 
plants had a total capacity of 188 megawatts. There were also 
nine small hydroelectric power plants with a total installed 
capacity of some six megawatts. All but three plants produced 
heat as well as electricity. 



54 



Harvesting grain on a farm 
Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk 



55 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

The country's power grid is connected to the grids of 
Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Most electricity 
imports come from Lithuania (the Ignalina Nuclear Power 
Plant) and Russia (the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant), but 
even here, Belarus has had problems in paying for its imports. 
In May 1995, Lithuania resumed electricity exports after more 
than two years; Belarus agreed to make payment in Russian nat- 
ural gas. 

During the Soviet era, nuclear energy was promoted as an 
inexpensive source of electricity, but after the Chornobyl 1 acci- 
dent, many people in Belarus were opposed to nuclear power. 
A nuclear power plant was under construction near Minsk in 
the early 1990s, but the country had no nuclear generating 
capacity at that time. 

Labor Force 

The private sector attracted a growing portion of the labor 
force in 1994, but cooperatives and the state sector continued 
to account for the bulk of official employment in Belarus. The 
labor force numbered 4.8 million persons in 1994, or 48 per- 
cent of the total population. 

A principal reason for Belarus's low official unemployment 
rate in 1994 (2.2 percent by the end of that year) was underem- 
ployment, which had been true during the Soviet era as well 
(thus keeping down the Soviet unemployment rate). Rather 
than lay off employees, enterprises often shortened work 
hours, reduced wages, and even forced employees to take leave 
without pay instead. Agreements signed by enterprises, labor 
unions, and the government in 1993 and 1994 called for avoid- 
ing declines in output and employment; in return for keeping 
the same level of employment, labor unions usually refrained 
from industrial disruptions. At a time when the cost of living 
was rising dramatically, the social benefits provided by enter- 
prises also acted as a disincentive for voluntary separations: a 
low-paying job that provided access to clinics, day care, and 
inexpensive housing was better than cash unemployment bene- 
fits alone. 

Banking and Finance 

Under the communist regime, the currency of the Soviet 
Union was the Russian ruble, and the banking system was 
owned and managed by the central government. Gosbank 
(Gosudarstvennyy bank— State Bank) was the central bank of 



56 



Belarus 



the country and its only commercial bank as well. It handled all 
significant banking transactions, including the issuance and 
control of currency and credit, management of the gold 
reserve, and oversight of all transactions among economic 
enterprises. Gosbank had main offices in each of the republics, 
and, because the banking system was highly centralized, it 
played an important role in managing the economy. 

After independence, Belarus restructured its banks into a 
two-tier system consisting of the National Bank of Belarus and 
thirty-six commercial banks (including seven specialized banks: 
Byelahraprambank, Byelpromstroybank, Byelarusbank, Byel- 
biznesbank, Priorbank, Byelvnyeshekonombank, and Sbyer- 
bank) with a total of 525 branches in 1994. Of these banks, 
Sbyerbank is wholly state owned, another bank is owned by an 
individual, and the rest are organized as either limited liability 
companies or joint-stock companies. 

Belarus's securities market was created at the end of 1992 
and is licensed and controlled by the state inspectorate for 
securities and the stock exchange. The over-the-counter mar- 
ket dominates the securities market, with Russian corporate 
shares and bonds the most actively traded items. The country 
has five commodity and stock exchanges. 

The Belarusian ruble was introduced in May 1992 in 
response to a shortage of Russian rubles with which to pay fuel 
and other debts to Russia. The zaychyk (hare), as the Belarusian 
ruble is known colloquially, was officially tied to the Russian 
ruble, but Russia would not accept the new unsecured cur- 
rency in payment, forcing Belarus to dip into its hard-currency 
reserves. In September 1993, Belarus and five other CIS coun- 
tries agreed to create a joint monetary system based on the Rus- 
sian ruble. 

Although Belarus and Russia continued to work at creating 
a monetary and economic union by signing an April 1994 
treaty, only a customs union was actually realized. Moscow post- 
poned implementation of the union itself, although it would 
have given Moscow significant control over the Belarusian 
economy, for fear of jeopardizing its own fragile economic 
reforms. Belarus's completely unreformed economy and 
accompanying high rate of inflation would have forced Russia 
to print large amounts of money to keep the Belarusian econ- 
omy going, thereby fueling inflation in Russia. 

In early 1995, Belarus's monetary policy was so loose that 
the National Bank of Belarus came under fire from the Inter- 



57 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

national Monetary Fund (IMF — see Glossary) when it lowered 
the country's key financing rate despite the country's high level 
of inflation. Belarus was in danger of jeopardizing other IMF 
loans by its actions. Despite the logic of the IMF's reasoning, 
President Lukashyenka's view of these difficulties is that they 
were the result of the IMF's dislike of Belarus's close relation- 
ship with Russia. 

In November 1994, the Supreme Soviet declared that the 
country's sole legal tender would be the Belarusian ruble as of 
January 1, 1995, when the Russian ruble could no longer be 
circulated. Although the zaychyk was convertible, the National 
Bank of Belarus used multiple exchange rates that depended 
on the nature of the transaction, thus setting limits on the con- 
vertibility of the zaychyk. 

The government's lax monetary policy failed to support 
financial discipline, which caused the average monthly infla- 
tion rate in 1993 to increase to 45 percent in the last quarter. 
Even though monthly inflation was down to 10 percent by 
March 1994, it rose again in 1994 and frightened off invest- 
ments from abroad, including Russia. The consumer price 
index rose by 1,070 percent in 1992, by 1,290 percent in 1993, 
and by 2,221 percent in 1994. In 1995 inflation seemed to 
abate somewhat, with the average monthly inflation rate of 
"only" 22 percent through April. 

Transportation and Telecommunications 

In the former Soviet Union, the central government owned 
and operated the transportation system of the Belorussian SSR 
and used it primarily to serve the economic needs of the entire 
country as determined by the GPSU. Because of the Belorus- 
sian SSR's generally flat landscape and its location, building a 
transportation system there did not entail the difficulties of 
building on rugged terrain, over permafrost, or in remote 
areas far from industrial centers. 

Railroads were the premier mode of transportation in the 
Belorussian SSR. Minsk is a major railroad junction, located on 
the lines connecting the Baltic states with Ukraine to the south 
and the line connecting Moscow with Warsaw to the west (see 
fig. 9). In 1993 Belarus had a total of 5,488 kilometers of 1,520- 
millimeter-gauge railroads; of these, 873 kilometers were elec- 
trified. Minsk also has an underground Metro with eighteen 
stations on two lines (totaling seventeen kilometers). 



58 



Belarus 



Belarus's railroads accelerated industrial development and, 
in wartime, played a significant military role. Well developed 
compared with those in the other former Soviet republics, the 
country's railroads continued to play a major role in the early 
years of independent Belarus. They moved raw materials, man- 
ufactured goods, and passengers over long hauls, transporting 
30 percent of the country's bulk cargo and 10 percent of its 
passengers in 1992. 

Rail freight transport declined from 71.5 million tons in 
1993 to 50.1 million tons in 1994 (see table 5, Appendix A). 
This drop approximated the decline in gross industrial output 
over the same period (unlike previous years, when it had been 
greater). As a result, experts believed that gross inefficiencies 
of the past had been eliminated and that railroad transporta- 
tion would not be a bottleneck in the future when industrial 
output rose. 

Because automotive transport is generally not used for long 
hauls, many roads outside urban areas have gravel or dirt sur- 
faces, especially in the more remote rural areas. The lack of 
paved roads in these rural areas seriously hampers the move- 
ment of agricultural products and supplies. Privately owned 
automobiles are relatively few per capita and thus have been of 
limited importance in transportation, although this began to 
change slowly with the demise of communism. At the begin- 
ning of 1994, the country had 92,200 kilometers of roads, two- 
thirds of which were paved, and many of which were deteriorat- 
ing. There were no expressways or major national highways. 
Truck transport of freight declined in 1994 by 41 percent to 
122.8 million tons. 

In 1994 Belarus received funds and promises of funds from 
the European Union (EU — see Glossary), Russia, Germany, 
and Poland to upgrade road and railroad links between Mos- 
cow and Berlin. A project funded jointly by Belarus and the 
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) 
will upgrade segments of the highway that links Poland to Rus- 
sia through Belarus. 

Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river sys- 
tems, especially the Dnyapro River and its tributaries and the 
Dnyaprowska-Buhski Canal, which connects the Buh (Bug in 
Russian) and Prypyats' rivers. Homyel', Babruysk (Bobruysk in 
Russian), Barysaw (Borisov in Russian), and Pinsk are major 
river ports. In 1991 some 800,000 passengers and 18.6 million 
tons of freight were carried on the country's inland waterways. 



59 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 




Figure 9. Transportation System of Belarus, 1995 

Although Belarus has no direct access to the sea, it is relatively 
close to Baltic Sea ports and has an agreement with Poland to 
transport Belarusian goods to the Polish port of Gdynia and to 
use the port itself. In addition, in 1995 Lithuanian officials 
were considering giving Belarus access to the Lithuanian port 
of Klaipeda. 

Of Belarus's 124 airports, only fifty-five were usable in 1993, 
and only thirty-one had permanent-surface runways. Minsk has 
one airport, Minsk International Airport. In 1994 Belavia, the 
Belarusian state airline, planned to use US$80 million of a 
US$220 million credit from Switzerland to build an aircraft ser- 
vice center at the airport. 



60 



Belarus 



At the beginning of 1992, Belarus had 1.9 million telephone 
lines, or about eighteen lines per 100 persons; more than 
700,000 applications for household telephones were still pend- 
ing. Only about 15 percent of the telephone lines were 
switched automatically. Connections to other former Soviet 
republics are by landline or microwave, and connections to 
other countries are by means of a leased connection through 
the Moscow international gateway switch. An NMT-450 analog 
cellular telecommunications network was under construction 
in Minsk in the early 1990s, and approximately 300 kilometers 
of fiber-optic cable were being added to the city network. 
Progress in establishing an International Telecommunications 
Satellite Organization (Intelsat) earth station was slow. 

In 1993 four television channels were available in Belarus: 
Belarus's single state-run television station (Byelaruskaye telye- 
bachannye) and three Russian television stations— Teievide- 
niye Ostankino (Ostankino Television, Channel 1), Rossiyskoye 
televideniye (Russian Television), and Sankt-Peterburg TV (St. 
Petersburg TV). By 1994 there was one private television sta- 
tion, the Minsk Television Company; its license was suspended 
during the parliamentary elections of 1994. No cable television 
service was available. In 1992 an estimated 3.5 million televi- 
sions were in use in Belarus. 

In 1994 Belarus's state-run radio (Byelaruskaye radyyo) 
broadcast two national programs, four Russian programs, and 
various regional programs over thirty-five AM radio stations in 
seventeen cities and over eighteen FM radio stations in eigh- 
teen cities. There was also a shared relay with Voice of Russia. 
International shortwave radio service broadcasts were in 
Belarusian, English, German, and Polish. In 1992 an estimated 
3.1 million radios were in use in Belarus. 

In 1995 the government continued to control television and 
radio broadcasting in Belarus. In April 1995, when opposition 
deputies to the Supreme Soviet clashed with President Luka- 
shyenka over questions on the upcoming referendum, Luka- 
shyenka cordoned off the national television and radio 
building (because of an alleged bomb threat). In the period 
before voting on both the referendum and parliamentary elec- 
tions, discussion of the issues disappeared from the media. 

Foreign Economic Relations 

By mid-1995 Belarus still relied primarily on Russia and 
other members of the CIS as its primary trading partners (see 



61 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

table 6, Appendix A). But it had started looking to expand its 
economic ties beyond the CIS. It turned to the EU, with which 
it signed an agreement with the goal of gradual economic inte- 
gration of Belarus into the EU, as well as to markets in the east, 
where it was better able to compete. An example of the latter 
was Belarus's trade of farm machinery and chemical fibers for 
Iranian oil in March 1995. 

Although the total volume of Belarus's foreign trade 
declined by nearly one-third in 1994, the proportion of its 
trade with non-CIS countries increased. Belarus's lack of 
domestic economic reform, however, has slowed down efforts 
to improve and expand its foreign economic relations. 

In January 1995, Belarus signed a number of agreements in 
hopes that they would improve its access to foreign markets: 
trade barriers were lowered between Russia and Belarus, and 
Kazakhstan joined the agreement to create a free-trade area 
(however, implementation of the accord was slow). Belarus and 
the EU signed an agreement to create a free-trade zone 
between the EU and Belarus. Under its terms, all quantitative 
limits on imports from Belarus to the EU will be abolished. 

Exports 

Under communism, the Belorussian SSR had net industrial 
and agricultural export surpluses within the Soviet Union until 
1990, thanks to the relatively high productivity of the Belorus- 
sian labor force. The Belorussian SSR shipped trucks, tractors, 
tractor trailers, elevators, lathes, bearings, electric motors, com- 
puter equipment, synthetic yarns and fibers, tires, linoleum, 
flax, textiles, carpets, potatoes, meat, dairy products, eggs, 
flour, and various consumer goods to the other republics. 

Apart from Belarus's energy situation, little had changed in 
the direction of independent Belarus's trade from its previous 
centralized planning system. In 1994 Belarus's major trading 
partners were still former Soviet republics (mainly Russia, 
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Lithuania, and Latvia), which 
accounted for 93 percent of its exports. Exports to these coun- 
tries totaled approximately US$2.5 billion, a decrease of 36 
percent by volume over the previous year. Exports included 
gasoline (198,000 tons), diesel fuel (147,000 tons), meat and 
meat products (53,000 tons), milk and milk products (256,000 
tons), refrigerators, tractors, and trucks. Belarus had a trade 
deficit with CIS countries amounting to US$614 million in 
1994. 



62 



Belarus 



Belarus's main non-CIS trading partners in 1994 were Ger- 
many (21 percent of non-CIS trade), Poland (9 percent), the 
United States (7 percent), Switzerland (4 percent), Austria (4 
percent), Italy (3 percent), the Netherlands (3 percent), Hun- 
gary (3 percent), China (3 percent), Brazil (3 percent), Britain 
(2 percent), and Lithuania (2 percent). Exports to non-CIS 
countries consisted mainly of energy products and heavy 
machinery. Belarus had a trade surplus of US$434 million with 
non-CIS countries in 1994. 

After independence and continuing into 1995, Belarus's 
trade deteriorated because import prices for energy and raw 
materials began to rise to world market levels, and demand for 
the country's exports by its major trading partners (especially 
Ukraine and Russia) declined. Payment problems within the 
former Soviet Union made the situation worse, and limited 
access to foreign financing caused the domestic economy to 
decline by further decreasing the volume of trade. 

Restrictions on export quantities, imposed by the new gov- 
ernment to prevent low-cost Belarusian goods from being sold 
abroad in large quantities to the detriment of the Belarusian 
consumer, were relaxed in March 1994, and only certain goods 
continued to be restricted: oil and gas, electricity, fertilizers, 
timber and wood products, nonferrous metals, cereals, phar- 
maceuticals, textiles, and leather. Exports of precious metals 
and gems had to be licensed by the State Committee on Pre- 
cious Metals and Precious Stones, and an export ban applied to 
certain medicinal herbs, animals, and some artworks and 
antiques. An agreement between Belarus and the EU set 
export quotas on textiles. 

As part of Belarus's pursuit of economic and monetary inte- 
gration with Russia, interstate trade regulations and taxation 
were harmonized with those of Russia, and most export and 
import fees on mutual trade with Russia were abolished by June 
1, 1994. In May 1995, Belarus and Russia eliminated customs 
checkpoints along their common border. 

Imports 

Both before and after independence, most of Belarus's 
imports came from Russia (64 percent in 1990) and Ukraine 
(19 percent in 1990). However, the foreign trade situation 
worsened for Belarus as the former Soviet Union continued to 
disintegrate economically. Imports from such countries as Ger- 
many, Poland, and the United States increased, so that by 1994 



63 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

only 76 percent of Belarus's imports came from former Soviet 
republics. Belarus was now paying higher prices for goods it 
had previously imported cheaply from former Soviet republics. 
The greatest drain on its finances now consisted of imports of 
raw materials and oil, whose prices increased greatly in the 
early to mid-1990s. 

In 1994 Belarus's imports from non-CIS countries decreased 
by nearly 13 percent from 1993 to US$534 million. Its imports 
from CIS countries were estimated at US$3.1 billion, a decrease 
of over 57 percent by volume from the previous year. 

In the mid-1990s, Belarus imported oil, natural gas, coal, 
rolled ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, commercial lumber 
and sawed timber, chemical products, raw materials for the 
chemical industry, cement, cotton yarn, silk, machines and 
equipment, automobiles and buses, sewing machines and wash- 
ing machines, paper, grain, forage, cooking oil, sugar, tea, fish 
and fish products, vegetables, and consumer goods. A few 
items were subject to restrictions for health and security rea- 
sons, including chemicals and industrial waste. An improved 
import tariff structure was introduced in October 1993, partly 
in line with World Bank (see Glossary) recommendations. 

Joint Ventures 

A number of foreign companies have set up joint ventures 
in Belarus to take advantage of its location, its educated (and 
relatively inexpensive) work force, and its lack of serious ethnic 
problems. By mid-1995 Belarus had 1,745 joint ventures regis- 
tered, but only some 30 percent of these were active. Most part- 
ners came from Poland, Germany, North America, and Austria. 
These joint ventures produced only 2 percent of total Belaru- 
sian output and employed only 0.4 percent of the total work- 
force. 

Government and Politics 

Belarus's declaration of independence on August 25, 1991, 
did not stem from long-held political aspirations, but rather 
from reactions to domestic and foreign events. Moscow's slow 
response to the accident at the Chornobyl' power plant and to 
the discovery of mass graves of Stalin's victims at Kurapaty led 
to demands for government accountability and reform. Uk- 
raine's declaration of independence on August 24, in particu- 
lar, led the Belorussian SSR to realize that the Soviet Union 



64 



Belarus 



would not last long. Independence nonetheless brought little 
or no change in the country's political structure. 

Prelude to Independence 

The series of events that led to Belarus's independence 
began with the explosion at the Chornobyl' nuclear power 
plant on April 26, 1986. The foot-dragging of the government 
in Moscow in even announcing that the accident had occurred, 
let alone evacuating people from affected areas and providing 
funds for the cleanup, greatly angered the Belorussian people, 
most of whom had no political aspirations for independence. 

In 1988 Zyanon Paznyak, an archaeologist who would later 
play a role in national politics, revealed the discovery of mass 
graves of some 250,000 of Stalin's victims at Kurapaty. Many 
Belorussians were deeply shaken by this news, and some 
demanded accountability from the central authorities in Mos- 
cow. Reformers created the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) in 
October after several mass demonstrations and clashes with the 
authorities. Paznyak became the spokesman for the reform 
movement and nationalist aspirations, and he emerged as the 
BPF chairman. 

The March 4, 1990, elections to the republic's Supreme 
Soviet gave the country a legislature that was little different 
from previous legislatures: only 10 percent of the deputies were 
members of the opposition. But for the most part, the popu- 
lace seemed satisfied with the new deputies, and the BPF's calls 
for independence and efforts at nation-building failed to stir 
up the same strong emotions as movements in neighboring 
Ukraine and the Baltic republics. Although the Supreme Soviet 
of the Belorussian SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sover- 
eignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic on June 27, 
1990 (some two weeks after Russia had declared its own sover- 
eignty), the March 1991 referendum held throughout the 
Soviet Union showed that 83 percent of Belorussians wanted to 
preserve the Soviet Union. 

Political change in the country came about only after the 
August 1991 coup d'etat in Moscow and a display of satisfaction 
by the Central Committee of the CPB at the coup attempt — it 
never issued a condemnation of the coup plotters. Following 
the coup's collapse and declarations of independence by Esto- 
nia, Latvia, and Ukraine, Belarus declared its own indepen- 
dence on August 25 by giving its declaration of sovereignty the 
status of a constitutional document. On August 28, Belarus's 



65 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

prime minister, Vyachaslaw Kyebich, declared that he and his 
entire cabinet had "suspended" their CPB membership. The 
next day, both the Russian and the Belarusian governments 
suspended the activities of the communist party. 

Liberals and nationalist reformers used this period of politi- 
cal confusion to advance their cause. On September 18, the 
parliament dismissed its chairman, Mikalay Dzyemyantsyey, for 
siding with the coup and replaced him with his deputy, Stani- 
slaw Shushkyevich. The next day, pressed by the small but vocal 
democratic opposition, the parliament changed the state's 
name from the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic to the 
Republic of Belarus. A new national flag (three horizontal 
stripes, white-red-white) was adopted, along with a new coat of 
arms (a mounted knight, St. George, patron saint of Belarus, 
with a drawn sword, the emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithua- 
nia, Rus', and Samogitia). On December 8, Belarus joined Rus- 
sia and Ukraine in signing the Minsk Agreement (see 
Appendix B) to form the CIS, which formally put an end to the 
Soviet Union. On December 21, Belarus signed the Alma-Ata 
Declaration (see Appendix C), which expanded the CIS mem- 
bership from the original three signatories of the Minsk Agree- 
ment to eleven states. And it was agreed that the headquarters 
of the CIS was to be in Minsk, a move that the government of 
Belarus welcomed as a means of attracting international atten- 
tion. 

The democratic opposition in the Supreme Soviet, led by 
the twenty-seven-member BPF faction and some of its allies, 
continued pressing for a referendum on the dissolution of the 
Supreme Soviet and for new elections. The electorate seemed 
to be responsive. More than 442,000 signatures in support of 
the move were collected within three months, but the initiators 
had underestimated the conservatism of the Supreme Soviet. 

Meeting in mid-October 1992 and encouraged by the elec- 
toral victory of former communists in Lithuania and growing 
resistance to President Boris N. Yeltsin's reforms in Russia, the 
Supreme Soviet solidly rejected the demand for a referendum. 
Claiming violations in the signature collection drive, 202 depu- 
ties voted against the referendum; only thirty-five deputies sup- 
ported it, and another thirty-five abstained. In view of the fact 
that in May 1992 the Central Referendum Commission had val- 
idated 384,000 of the 442,000 signatures collected (exceeding 
the 350,000 signatures required by law), the BPF opposition 
accused the Supreme Soviet's conservative majority of an open 



66 




Interior of metro station, Institute of Belarusian Culture, Minsk 

Courtesy Jim Doran 

violation of the republic's constitution and of an attempt to 
retain power by illegal means. Nonetheless, the opposition won 
a small victory in this tug-of-war: the parliament agreed to 
shorten its five-year term by one year and scheduled the next 
elections for the spring of 1994. 

The Belarusian government headed by Prime Minister Kye- 
bich consisted of former CPB functionaries and took a very 
conservative approach to economic and political reforms. Kye- 
bich himself characterized his policy as "traditional" and 
warned about taking "extreme" positions. 

Belarus's conservative Supreme Soviet continued to put 
obstacles in the path of reform. A privatization law was passed 
in July 1993, but it allowed collective and state farms to con- 
tinue to exist and operate. Privatization of state-owned enter- 
prises had barely begun in mid-1995, despite earlier efforts by 
Shushkyevich, who was largely a figurehead, to move along 
reform efforts. Conservative Kyebich, who actually controlled 
the ministries, was a temporary victor when, in January 1994, 
he survived a no-confidence vote that ousted Shushkyevich and 
replaced him with a Kyebich crony, Myechyslaw Hryb. 



67 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

In the meantime, the Supreme Soviet adopted a constitu- 
tion that went into effect on March 30, 1994, and created the 
office of president, who would now be the head of government 
instead of the prime minister. A quickly organized election was 
held in June, and a runoff election between the two highest 
vote-getters was held in July; in a surprise result, Kyebich was 
soundly beaten by anticorruption crusader Alyaksandr 
Lukashyenka. Both Kyebich and Lukashyenka took pro-Russian 
stands on economic and political matters, and both supported 
a quick monetary union with Russia. Lukashyenka even called 
for outright unification with Russia, but it was his anticorrup- 
tion stance that won him more than 80 percent of the vote. 

After Lukashyenka achieved his victory, the BPF granted 
him a three-month grace period, during which it did not 
openly criticize his policies. Because his campaign promises 
had often been vague, he had great latitude within which to 
operate. And because Kyebich resigned after the election, tak- 
ing his government with him, there were no problems in 
removing ministers. 

Lukashyenka's presidency was one of contradictions from 
the start. His cabinet was composed of young, talented new- 
comers as well as Kyebich veterans who had not fully supported 
Kyebich. As a reward to the parliament for confirming his 
appointees, Lukashyenka supported the move to postpone the 
parliamentary elections until May 1995. 

Lukashyenka's government was also plagued by corrupt 
members. Lukashyenka fired the minister of defense, the 
armed forces chief of staff, the head of the Border Guards, and 
the minister of forestry. Following resignations among reform- 
ists in Lukashyenka's cabinet, parliamentary deputy Syarhyey 
Antonchyk read a report in parliament on December 20, 1994, 
about corruption in the administration. Although Lukashyen- 
ka refused to accept the resignations that followed, the govern- 
ment attempted to censor the report, fueling opposition criti- 
cism of Lukashyenka. 

Lukashyenka went to Russia in August 1994 on his first offi- 
cial visit abroad as head of state. There he came to realize that 
Russia would not make any unusual efforts to accommodate 
Belarus, especially its economic needs. Nevertheless, Luka- 
shyenka kept trying; in February 1995, Belarus signed the 
Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation with Russia, making 
many concessions to Russia, such as allowing the stationing of 
Russian troops in Belarus, in hopes that Russia would return 



68 



Belarus 



the favor by charging Belarus lower prices for fuels. However, 
because the treaty included no such provision, there was little 
hope of realizing this objective. 

Lukashyenka had several disputes with parliament, mainly 
over the limits of presidential power (such as whether the pres- 
ident has the right to dissolve parliament). A hunger strike by 
opposition deputies, led by Zyanon Paznyak, began on April 
11, 1995, after Lukashyenka proposed four questions for a ref- 
erendum and then stated that the referendum would be held 
regardless of parliament's vote. The protest ended when the 
striking deputies, forcibly evicted in the middle of the night 
during a search for an alleged bomb, found that the national 
television and radio building had been cordoned off as well 
because of another alleged bomb threat. After this incident, 
the parliament gave in on a number of matters, including the 
four referendum questions, because word of their strike now 
could not be publicized. 

The parliamentary elections held in May 1995 were less 
than successful or democratic. The restrictions placed on the 
mass media and on the candidates 1 expenditures during the 
campaign led to a shortage of information about the candi- 
dates and almost no political debate before the elections. In 
several cases, no one candidate received the necessary majority 
of the votes in the May 14 elections, prompting another round 
on May 28. The main problem in the second round was the 
lack of voter turnout. After the second round, parliament was 
in limbo because it had only 120 elected deputies — it was still 
short of the 174 members necessary to seat a new legislature. 
Another round of elections was discussed, probably near the 
end of the year, but the government claimed to have no money 
to finance them. 

Problems of Democratization 

Of the 346 seats to the Belorussian Supreme Soviet elected 
in 1990, fourteen were still vacant three years later, owing to 
voter apathy. There was also widespread apathy toward the 
political process and disbelief that what were being advertised 
as democratic ways would improve the situation. This general 
political malaise was then, and continued to be in 1995, 
reflected in the feeble growth, small size, and low popularity of 
political parties. 

Although the 1990 and 1995 parliamentary elections were 
far from democratic, the predominance of conservatives in the 



69 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

legislature had deeper roots than just the lack of means for free 
expression and the strictures of the electoral procedure. A 
widely heard rhetorical question was, "What is more useful, sau- 
sage or freedom?" The conservative majority in parliament — 
largely managers, administrators, and representatives of such 
groups as war veterans and collective and state farm manag- 
ers — had successfully slowed the pace of reforms, and the stan- 
dard of living had decreased dramatically for most of the 
population. 

In view of the tremendous economic difficulties that accom- 
panied the post-Soviet period, the years before perestroika 
looked reasonably good to most citizens. The populace was 
frustrated by the misuse of a freedom whose benefits were mea- 
sured predominantly in material terms. Nostalgia for the so- 
called good old days had been growing stronger ever since the 
country declared its independence, and the lack of political 
energy in the country hindered the growth of political parties 
not tied to the old ways. 

An example of political inertia is the debate on relations 
between Russia and Belarus. This debate has proceeded rather 
noisily and has been couched in cultural and historical terms, 
rather than in terms of the state's interests. National interests 
and foreign affairs are still deemed to be beyond the average 
citizen's competence, and the idea that the party/government 
knows best is still prevalent in the popular mind. 

The four-question referendum that had prompted the par- 
liamentary hunger strike in April 1994 was held on May 15, 
1995. The populace voted "yes" on all four questions: Russian 
as an official language, the return of a Soviet-era red and green 
flag, economic integration with Russia, and presidential power 
to dissolve the Supreme Soviet. The result hardly inspired con- 
fidence among aspiring democrats. 

Government Structure 

The Constitution 

A new Belarusian constitution was submitted to the 
Supreme Soviet in three different versions before it was finally 
adopted on March 28, 1994, and went into effect on March 30, 
1994. The new basic law declares the Republic of Belarus a 
democracy that operates on the basis of a diversity of political 
institutions, ideologies, and opinions, with all religions and 
creeds equal before the law. The official language is Belaru- 



70 



Belarus 



sian, although Russian is the language of interethnic communi- 
cation. Belarus is declared a nuclear-free, neutral state. All 
persons are equal before the law and are to have their rights, 
legitimate interests, and freedom protected equally; suffrage is 
granted to citizens who have reached eighteen years of age. 
The state also pledges itself to create "the conditions for full 
employment." 

National Government 

With the exception of the new office of the president, the 
government structure of independent Belarus was changed lit- 
tle from that of the Belorussian SSR. Within the government, 
the communist-era mind-set also persisted, even though the 
names of office-holders were often different. Because Luka- 
shyenka and the legislature were frequently at odds, there was 
little agreement on or initiative toward changing or improving 
the government. 

The national government consists of three branches: legisla- 
tive, executive, and judicial (see fig. 10). Under the constitu- 
tion, the size of the Supreme Soviet (elected for a term of five 
years) was reduced from 360 to 260 members. It is the highest 
legislative body of state power. Its functions include calling 
national referenda; adopting, revising, and interpreting the 
constitution; scheduling parliamentary and presidential elec- 
tions; electing members of high-level courts, the procurator 
general, and the chairman and members of the board of the 
National Bank of Belarus; determining guidelines for domestic 
and foreign policy; confirming the state budget; supervising 
currency issues; ratifying international treaties; and determin- 
ing military policy. The role of the Presidium of the Supreme 
Soviet was reduced to that of an agenda-setting and administra- 
tive body. The legislature's two subordinate state committees 
are the State Customs Committee and the State Security Com- 
mittee. 

Any Belarusian citizen who has the right to vote and is at 
least twenty-one years old is eligible to stand for election as a 
deputy. The parliament is elected by universal suffrage. 

The president of the republic is elected by popular vote for 
a five-year term of office and is the head of state and head of 
the executive branch of government. He adopts measures to 
guard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, 
appoints and dismisses the prime minister and the members of 
the Cabinet of Ministers, appoints judges, heads the country's 



71 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



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72 



Belarus 



National Security Council, and serves as commander in chief of 
the armed forces. 

The president can be removed by a two-thirds vote in the 
parliament under certain circumstances, such as violating the 
constitution or committing a crime. However, the president 
cannot dismiss the parliament or other elected governing bod- 
ies, pending implementation of the referendum on this point. 

The executive branch also includes the Cabinet of Minis- 
ters, composed of the heads of Belarus's twenty-six ministries: 
administration of state property and privatization; agriculture; 
architecture and construction; CIS matters; communications 
and information; culture and the press; defense; economy; 
education and science; emergency situations and the protec- 
tion of the population from the aftermath of the Chornobyl' 
nuclear power station disaster; finance; foreign affairs; foreign 
economic relations; forestry; fuel and energy; health care; 
housing and municipal services; industry; internal affairs; jus- 
tice; labor; natural resources and environmental protection; 
social protection; statistics and analyses; trade; and transporta- 
tion and communications. 

Judicial power is vested in a court system that consists of 
three courts. One court is the Constitutional Court, which con- 
sists of eleven judges who are nominated by the president and 
appointed by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Court 
receives proposals from the president, the chairman of the 
Supreme Soviet, the state committees of the Supreme Soviet, at 
least seventy deputies of the Supreme Soviet, the Supreme 
Court, the Supreme Economic Court, or the procurator gen- 
eral to review the constitutionality of international agreements 
or obligations to which Belarus is a party. The Constitutional 
Court also reviews the constitutionality of domestic legal acts; 
presidential edicts; regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers; the 
constitution; laws; legal documents; and regulatory decisions of 
the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court, and the 
Procuracy. The Constitutional Court's decisions are final and 
are not subject to appeal. 

Another court is the Supreme Court and its lower-level 
courts, in which trials are open to all. Cases are first tried in a 
rayon-level court. Either party can then appeal a judicial deci- 
sion, sentence, or other ruling in a voblasts '-level court; final 
appeal can be made to the Supreme Court. However, an appeal 
consists merely of a higher court's review of the protocol and 



73 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

other documents of the original trial. In actual practice, deci- 
sions are rarely overturned. 

The third court is the Supreme Economic Court and its 
lower-level courts, which have jurisdiction in cases involving 
economic matters. Such cases include relations between eco- 
nomic entities (such as collective farms) and anti-monopoly 
cases. 

There is a separate system of military courts. Military judges 
are appointed directly by the president. 

The Procuracy functions as a combination of a police inves- 
tigative bureau and a public prosecutor's office. It investigates 
crimes, brings criminals to trial and prosecutes them, super- 
vises courts and penal facilities within its jurisdiction, reviews 
all court decisions in both civil and criminal cases, supervises 
investigations conducted by other government agencies, and 
ensures the uniform application of law in the courts. 

The Procuracy is headed by the procurator general, who is 
appointed by the Supreme Soviet. The procurator general then 
appoints each officer of the Procuracy, known as a procurator. 
The constitution states that the procurator general and his or 
her subordinate procurators are to function independently, yet 
the procurator general is accountable to the Supreme Soviet. 
Procurators are independent of regional and local government 
bodies because they derive their authority from the procurator 
general. Procurators are quite influential because they super- 
vise all criminal investigations; courts are extremely deferential 
to the procurators' actions, petitions, and conclusions. 

Local Government 

In 1995 Belarus's local government was arranged in three 
tiers: six voblastsi (sing., voblasts 1 ); 141 rayony (sing., rayon — see 
Glossary) and thirty-eight cities; and 112 towns and 1,480 vil- 
lages and settlements (see fig. 11). Large cities were also 
divided into rayony. 

Under Belarus's new constitution, local councils of deputies 
are to be elected by the citizens of their jurisdictions for four- 
year terms and are to have exclusive jurisdiction over economic 
and social development programs, local budgets and taxes, 
management and disposal of local government property, and 
the calling of referenda. In October 1994, Lukashyenka con- 
vinced the Supreme Soviet to amend the law on local self-gov- 
ernment, much to the dismay of the opposition, who saw the 
country's administration come under his control in a single 



74 



Belarus 



stroke. The local councils in villages, towns, and city districts 
were to be disbanded and placed under the supervision of 
local administrations. The head of the regional executives was 
to be appointed by the president, and the local executives were 
to be nominated by the regional executives (and approved by 
the president). Thus, the chain of command would run from 
the top down, as it had in the days of the Belorussian SSR. 

Political Parties 

Stanislaw Shushkyevich observed at the beginning of 1993 
that almost 60 percent of Belarusians did not support any polit- 
ical party, only 3.9 percent of the electorate backed the com- 
munist party, and only 3.8 percent favored the BPF. The 
influence of other parties was much lower. 

In the Soviet era, the Communist Party of Belorussia (CPB), 
part of the Communist Parry of the Soviet Union (CPSU), 
claimed to rule the Belorussian SSR in the name of the prole- 
tariat for the entire duration of the republic's existence. For 
most of this period, it sought to control all aspects of govern- 
ment and society and to infuse political, economic, and social 
policies with the correct ideological content. By the late 1980s, 
however, the party watched as Mikhail S. Gorbachev attempted 
to withdraw the CPSU from day-to-day economic affairs. 

After the CPB was banned in the wake of the August 1991 
coup d'etat, Belarusian communists regrouped and renamed 
themselves the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB), which 
became the umbrella organization for Belarus's communist 
parties and pro-Russian groups. The PCB was formally regis- 
tered in December 1991. The Supreme Soviet lifted the ban on 
the CPB in February 1993. The CPB was subsequently merged 
with the PCB. 

The most active and visible of the opposition political 
groups in Belarus in the first half of the 1990s was the Belaru- 
sian Popular Front (BPF), founded in October 1989 with 
Zyanon Paznyak as chairman. The BPF declared itself a move- 
ment open to any individual or party, including communists, 
provided that those who joined shared its basic goal of a fully 
independent and democratic Belarus. The BPF's critics, how- 
ever, claimed that it was indeed a party, pointing out the move- 
ment's goal of seeking political power, having a "shadow 
cabinet," and being engaged in parliamentary politics. 

The United Democratic Party of Belarus was founded in 
November 1990 and was the first political party in independent 



75 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



International boundary 

Voblasts' boundary 

® National capital 

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lundary representation 
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Figure 11. Administrative Divisions of Belarus, 1995 

Belarus other than the communist party. Its membership is 
composed of technical intelligentsia, professionals, workers, 
and peasants. It seeks an independent Belarus, democracy, 
freedom of ethnic expression, and a market economy. 

The Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly (Hramada) 
emerged in March 1991. Its members include workers, peas- 
ants, students, military personnel, and urban and rural intelli- 
gentsia. Its program advocates an independent Belarus, 
although it does not rule out membership in the CIS, and a 
market economy with state regulation of certain sectors. The 
assembly cooperates with other parties and considers itself part 
of the worldwide social democratic movement. 



76 



Belarus 



The Belarusian Peasant Party, founded in February 1991, is 
headquartered in Minsk and has branches in most voblastsi 
The party's goals include privatization of land, a free market, a 
democratic government, and support of Belarusian culture 
and humanism. 

The Belarusian Christian Democratic Union, founded in 
June 1991, was a continuation of the Belarusian Christian Dem- 
ocratic Party, which was disbanded by the Polish authorities in 
western Belarus in the 1930s. Its membership consists mainly of 
the intelligentsia. It espouses Christian values, nonviolence, 
pluralism, private property, and peaceful relations among eth- 
nic groups. 

The "Belaya Rus'" Slavic Council was founded in June 1992 
as a conservative Russophile group. It defends Russian interests 
in all spheres of social life, vociferously objects to the status of 
Belarusian as the republic's sole official language, and de- 
mands equal status for the Russian language. 

In 1995 other parties included the Belarusian Ecological 
Party, the National Democratic Party of Belarus, the Party of 
People's Accord, the All-Belarusian Party of Popular Unity and 
Accord, the Belarusian United Agrarian Democratic Party, the 
Belarusian Scientific Industrial Congress, the Belarusian Green 
Party, the Belarusian Humanitarian Party, the Belarusian Party 
of Labor, the Belarusian Party of Labor and Justice, the Belaru- 
sian Socialist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, 
the Polish Democratic Union, and the Republican Party. 

The Media 

In late 1992, Belarus had 586 officially approved periodi- 
cals: 140 in Belarusian, 159 in Russian, and 241 in both Belaru- 
sian and Russian. Other publications combined Russian with 
another language or were published in English, Polish, or 
Ukrainian. The only daily newspaper published completely in 
Belarusian was Zvyazda (Star). Other dailies included Sovetskaya 
Belorussiya (Soviet Belorussia) and Vechernyy Minsk (Evening 
Minsk), published in Russian, and Narodnaya hazyeta (People's 
Newspaper), published in both Belarusian and Russian. 
Belarus's official news agency is BelTA (Belarusian News 
Agency), and the independent news agency is BELAPAN. 

In the mid-1990s, Belarus had a high level of censorship, a 
carryover from the Soviet period (see Internal Security, this 
ch.). Works no longer had to be approved before publication, 
but all nonfiction materials had to be presented to the Inspec- 



77 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

torate for the Protection of State Secrets, a small government 
department subordinate to the Ministry of Communications 
and Information, which once had been a branch of Glavlit, the 
Soviet censorship body. Most publishing houses in the country 
were funded and controlled by the ministry 

Foreign Relations 

The United States recognized Belarus on December 26, 
1991. By late 1992, more than 100 countries had recognized 
Belarus, and nearly seventy of them had established some level 
of diplomatic relations with it. Belarus had a limited number of 
embassies abroad because its diplomatic activities, as with all 
other phases of life, were severely constrained by economic 
hardships. There was also a shortage of experienced diplomats 
who were Belarusian citizens; international relations had been 
the purview of Moscow during the Soviet era and continued to 
be mainly the purview of ethnic Russians residing in, but not 
citizens of, Belarus. 

In 1995 Belarus was a member of a number of international 
organizations, including the United Nations (UN) (of which it 
was a founding member), the World Bank, the International 
Monetary Fund, the Commonwealth of Independent States 
(CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE; until January 1995 known as the Conference 
on Security and Cooperation in Europe — see Glossary), the 
North Atlantic Cooperation Council, and the European Bank 
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Belarus also has 
observer status at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
(GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization 
(WTO). However, the Council of Europe (see Glossary) in 
1995 declared Belarus to be ineligible for membership in the 
council because of shortcomings in its elections and its election 
laws, including restrictions on mass media coverage of the 
spring 1995 parliamentary campaign and restrictions on candi- 
dates' campaign expenditures. 

Belarusian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, have been trying to promote the widest possible con- 
tacts with Belarusians living abroad (and particularly in the 
West), with an eye to developing economic and cultural coop- 
eration. The Belarusian domestic media have devoted an 
increasing amount of space to the life of emigres, including 
their past and present activities. A number of cultural 
exchanges, conferences, and joint ventures took place during 



78 



Belarus 



the early 1990s; a World Reunion of Belarusians was held in the 
republic's capital in 1993. 

But not everybody in the republic concurs with these initia- 
tives. From the ultraconservatives came denunciations of the 
emigres for their alleged collaboration with the Nazis during 
World War II and their employment by the United States Cen- 
tral Intelligence Agency. However, the democratic opposition 
groups, including the BPF, have engaged in their own coopera- 
tive efforts with Belarusian emigre organizations, through 
which they have reached out for contacts with Western politi- 
cians and governments. 

Russia 

Even though Belarus's new constitution declared that it is a 
neutral country, the reality at independence was that Russia 
was Belarus's neighbor, its military partner, and its largest eco- 
nomic partner. Belarus's heavy economic dependence on Rus- 
sia, especially for critically needed fuels, has serious political 
consequences. Russia not only could bring political pressure 
on Belarus but could also bring the country to its knees eco- 
nomically by withholding oil and natural gas. And with some 
1.5 million ethnic Russians living in Belarus and many of the 
officers in the Belarusian armed forces being ethnic Russians, 
Russia is in a position to influence Belarus in more subtle ways 
as well. 

The opposition is aware that the government of Alyaksandr 
Lukashyenka, using economic difficulties as justification, could 
try to append Belarus to Russia, not only economically but also 
militarily and politically. Lukashyenka has made it clear from 
the start that he wants a "special relationship" with Moscow, 
which, in terms of national security, would mean relying on 
Russia to ensure Belarus's security and, perhaps, giving Russia a 
"right of supervision" over Belarusian foreign and security pol- 
icy. 

Some hard-liners have called for closer contacts not only 
with the CIS but also with Russia itself. Because Belarus is so 
dependent on Russia already, they argue, it would make sense 
to be allied with it militarily as well. The Russian troops and 
missiles still on Belarus's soil would seem to make this alliance 
the logical choice, but it runs counter to the Belarusian consti- 
tution's goal of neutrality. The public itself is divided on the 
issue. 



79 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Nevertheless, although Russia has strong security concerns 
regarding Belarus, it does not appear interested in taking 
Belarus under its wing economically. Russia has made a num- 
ber of changes in its finances and its economy that Belarus has 
not replicated; many policymakers in Russia see Belarus as a 
continuing drain on Russia's own financial resources. 

The most concrete efforts to date at a close relationship 
between the two countries lie in the economic and monetary 
spheres. By June 1, 1994, Belarus had harmonized its interstate 
trade regulations and taxation schemes with those of Russia; 
most export and import fees on mutual trade were abolished. 
In May 1995, Belarus and Russia signed a customs union that 
eliminated customs checkpoints along their joint border 
(effective July 15, 1995) and also signed an agreement on coop- 
eration in maintaining state borders. 

United States 

The United States awarded Belarus most-favored-nation sta- 
tus (see Glossary) for trade on February 16, 1993, and dramati- 
cally increased aid (from US$8.3 million under previously 
signed agreements to US$100 million in January 1994) because 
of Belarus's agreement to approve the first Strategic Arms 
Reduction Treaty (START I) and the Nuclear Nonproliferation 
Treaty (NPT). But the good relations between the United 
States and Belarus had cooled by 1995, when the reforms and 
progress toward democracy that had been developing slowly 
under Stanislaw Shushkyevich were stopped and even reversed 
by Alyaksandr Lukashyenka. The United States has protested 
the violations of human rights and democratic reversals under 
the Lukashyenka administration (see Internal Security, this 
ch.). 

Ukraine 

In 1995 Belarus and Ukraine were on good terms and made 
no territorial claims on each other; nor have their respective 
minority groups voiced any complaints of discrimination. How- 
ever, ties between the two countries are weak because of their 
different relationships with, and views of, Russia. Unlike 
Belarus, Ukraine is determined to be politically and militarily 
independent. Kiev complains that whenever Ukraine disagrees 
with Russia on an issue, Belarus backs the latter. 

Perhaps the most important Ukrainian issue for Belarus is 
the Chornobyf nuclear power plant. Because Belarus suffered 



80 



Belarus 



the effects of the 1986 disaster more than any other country, it 
had a strong interest in the shutdown of the plant. Belarus was 
therefore alarmed by the Ukrainian parliament's December 
1993 vote to keep the plant running, despite the original plans 
that called for closing it at the end of 1993. Yet Supreme Soviet 
chairman Shushkyevich's appeals to Ukraine, which was in the 
midst of an energy crisis, made little difference. 

Poland 

Once Belarus declared its independence, it signed a num- 
ber of agreements with Poland, including ones on establishing 
diplomatic relations and a consular convention, fighting crime, 
creating a commercial bank to finance bilateral trade, estab- 
lishing new border-crossing points, and supporting investment 
opportunities in the two countries. Polish president Lech 
Walesa and Belarusian parliamentary chairman Stanislaw 
Shushkyevich signed a bilateral friendship and cooperation 
treaty during the latter's visit to Warsaw in June 1992. Military 
and economic agreements were signed in 1993. 

In 1994 approximately 300,000 ethnic Belarusians lived in 
Poland, and 418,000 ethnic Poles lived in Belarus. In neither 
country are there any obstacles to the ethnic minority's partici- 
pation in political life. In Belarus most ethnic Poles supported 
the drive for Belarusian independence and were not seen as a 
threat to Belarus; the government raised no obstacles to the 
Poles' acquisition of Belarusian citizenship. The ethnic Belaru- 
sians in Poland live mainly in the Bialystok region, one of the 
poorest areas of the country, but new economic cooperation 
between Belarus and Poland and specific obligations taken on 
by Poland are sure to effect changes, if only modestly. 

The arena of most disagreements between Poles and Belaru- 
sians in the 1990s seemed to be religion. Accusations were 
made of ethnic Polish dominance of the Roman Catholic 
Church in Belarus. Polish priests sometimes served in parishes 
with little or no knowledge of the Belarusian language. But 
steps were being taken by the Roman Catholic archbishop to 
counter the more blatant use of Polish political symbols in the 
churches (see Religion, this ch.). 

Lithuania 

Although relations between Belarus and Lithuania were 
generally friendly in the early 1990s, various groups and indi- 
viduals, and even some elements of the Belarusian government 



81 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

and legislature, cited historical and sociological "facts" about 
language and ethnicity to claim some of Lithuania's territory, 
especially around the capital, Vilnius. The two countries signed 
a border agreement in December 1991 and over the next two 
years demarcated the previously unmarked border to prevent 
any further disputes. 

During a February 1995 summit, Lithuanian president 
Algirdas Brazauskas and Belarusian president Lukashyenka 
signed a friendship and cooperation treaty that resolved all 
outstanding border issues. No problems were reported in con- 
nection with the minorities living in the other country. 

Latvia 

Belarus's relations with Latvia, one of its major trading part- 
ners, have been relatively free of problems. The border is 
unchanged from that established in 1940; as a result, marking 
it and establishing normal border controls (so that both coun- 
tries could deal with smuggling and illegal immigration) were 
fairly straightforward. Neither the 120,000 ethnic Belarusians 
in Latvia nor the approximately 3,000 ethnic Latvians living in 
Belarus reported problems. 

Belarus and Latvia have signed a number of agreements. An 
agreement signed in December 1991 covered respect for the 
rights of minorities and for national borders. Latvian president 
Guntis Ulmanis and Belarusian foreign minister Pyotr 
Krawchanka signed similar accords in August 1993. In May 
1995, the transportation ministers of both countries signed an 
agreement on cooperation in rail transport and communica- 
tions. 

National Security 

Belarus's national security interests are couched in conflict. 
On the one hand, there is the desire by some to protect 
Belarus's independence and its territory. On the other hand, 
there is the desire to appease and even actively to cooperate 
with Moscow, which supplies nearly all of Belarus's fuels and 
raw materials. Although Belarus's Supreme Soviet signed the 
CIS Treaty on Collective Security in April 1993, the govern- 
ment also joined the Partnership for Peace program of polit- 
ico-military cooperation of the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization (NATO) in January 1995, but not before waiting 
to see what Russia would do. 



82 



Belarus 



The Armed Forces 

Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 243,000 Soviet 
troops were stationed in the Belorussian SSR, with an addi- 
tional 180,000 troops belonging to the local commands of the 
strategic rocket and air forces. This situation changed only in 
May 1992, when Belarus abolished the Belorussian Military Dis- 
trict and subordinated all troops on its soil to its own Ministry 
of Defense. 

The Belarusian armed forces officially came into existence 
on January 1, 1993, the day after all service personnel with 
Belarusian citizenship, which excluded the great majority of 
the officers, had taken an oath of loyalty to Belarus. Because 
there was no stipulation that only Belarusian citizens could 
serve in the armed forces, they were Belarusian forces in name 
only, and there was concern among groups such as the BPF 
that in time of crisis the loyalty of these forces might lie with 
Russia rather than with Belarus. 

A component of this concern was the ethnic composition of 
the armed forces. At the end of 1992, ethnic Russians 
accounted for nearly half the Belarusian conscripts and some 
80 percent of the officer corps. Since then, the ethnic composi- 
tion of the officers has been changing gradually in favor of 
Belarusians as a result of legislative acts, but the process is slow 
It will take years before the republic has its own Belarusian-led 
armed forces that are politically reliable and dedicated to 
Belarusian nationhood. 

Another aspect of the nationality issue was that in 1993 
some 40,000 Belarusian natives served as officers in the armed 
forces of other former Soviet republics. Many of them wished 
to return home for either patriotic or economic reasons, but 
such possibilities were limited because of the shortage of hous- 
ing and the republic's scheduled military reductions in gen- 
eral. What concerned the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, 
which was dominated by Russians, was an announcement in the 
spring of 1992 by the Coordinating Council of the Union of 
Belarusian Soldiers that these officers were willing to fight 
against Russian military aggression in Belarus. 

Because of Belarus's geopolitical importance and its absorp- 
tion of troops withdrawn from the countries of the former War- 
saw Pact (see Glossary), it was the most militarized republic of 
the former Soviet Union. Even in 1993, it had a ratio of one sol- 
dier to forty-three civilians, compared with one to ninety-eight 
in Ukraine and one to 634 in Russia. In real numbers, this 



83 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

meant an estimated 243,000 troops. In addition, there was a 
serious imbalance in the officer-to-conscript ratio: three offic- 
ers for every seven conscripts. 

In accordance with its stated goal of becoming a neutral 
state and in accordance with its new defense doctrine, the gov- 
ernment planned to decrease the number of its troops by some 
60 percent, from 243,000 to 96,000 (including up to 22,000 
officers) by the beginning of 1995. The armed forces employed 
64,000 civilians. Further reductions were expected to reduce 
the total armed forces to a strength of 75,000 or even 60,000. 
Such a move, however, presents a difficult political problem 
because of a lack of housing and employment for demobilized 
service members, who, regardless of their present citizenship, 
are eligible to become Belarusian citizens and voters. 

Women serve in the armed forces as well, although in much 
smaller numbers than men. They face the same physical and 
other testing requirements as men. In mid-1995 there were 
approximately 3,000 servicewomen, many of whom worked at 
headquarters as secretaries. 

As of mid-1995, the armed forces were in the midst of adopt- 
ing five main reforms. The first was a gradual move toward a 
goal of 50 percent professional soldiers. By mid-1995 there 
were 22,000 professional soldiers on contracts of five years or 
longer and another 9,000 soldiers on contracts of two to five 
years. These accounted for 32 percent of the uniformed estab- 
lishment. 

The second reform was to redivide the country into military 
territorial districts whose district commanders would be part of 
the structure of local government. The Ministry of Defense 
hoped that after implementing this system, recruits would be 
able to serve closer to home and that draft avoidance would 
decline. 

The third reform was to create a mobile operational force. 
Such a force would likely be composed of three brigades: air- 
mobile, helimobile, and airborne/special forces. 

The fourth reform was the adoption of a new structure to 
permit maximum flexibility. The army's new post-Soviet struc- 
ture, built on corps and brigades, suited Belarus's needs better 
than the Soviet-era divisions. 

Last was the army's increased role in internal security. 
According to a presidential decree of January 1, 1995, entitled 
On Reinforcing the Fight Against Crime, troops have been 
transferred from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of 



84 




Honor guard at the World War II memorial, Minsk 
Courtesy Michael E. Samojeden 



Internal Affairs. Belarus's Border Guards are under the control 
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They numbered 8,000 in 
early 1995. 

Ground Forces 

In 1994 Belarus had ground forces of 52,500, organized into 
three corps headquarters, two motorized divisions, one air- 
borne division, one artillery division, three mechanized divi- 
sions, one airborne brigade, three surface-to-surface missile 
brigades, two antitank brigades, one special duties brigade, and 
seven surface-to-air missile brigades. Equipment included 
3,108 main battle tanks (seventy-nine T-54, 639 T-55, 291 T- 
62, 299 T^64, eight T^80, and 1,800 T-72), 419 medium-range 
launchers, sixty surface-to-surface missiles, and 350 surface-to- 
air missiles. 

By January 1, 1995, the order of battle for the Belarusian 
army had changed. Ministry of Defense forces included the 
103d Guards Air Assault Division and the 38th Separate 
Assault-Landing Brigade; the 28th Army Corps (Hrodna and 
Brest regions), composed of headquarters at Hrodna, the 6th 
Detached Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the 11th Detached 



85 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the 50th Detached Mechanized 
Infantry Brigade, the armament and equipment base, and 
corps units (missile troops, antiaircraft, chemical and engineer 
troops, signals, and rear services); the 65th Army Corps (Minsk 
and Vitsyebsk regions), composed of headquarters at Barysaw, 
three armament and equipment bases, and corps units; and 
the 5th Guards Army Corps (Minsk and Mahilyow regions) 
made up of headquarters at Babruysk, the 30th Detached 
Mechanized Infantry Brigade, two armament and equipment 
bases, and corps units. 

Air Force 

In mid-1994 the Belarusian air force operated two intercep- 
tor regiments with MiG-23, MiG-25, and MiG-29 aircraft; 
three strike regiments with MiG-27, Su-17, Su-24, and Su-25 
aircraft; and one reconnaissance regiment with MiG-25 and 
Su-24 aircraft. Four regiments had 300 helicopters, and one 
transport regiment had more than forty helicopters. Personnel 
numbered 15,800. 

Belarus also had an air defense force with 11,800 personnel 
and 200 SA-2, SA-3, SA-5, and SA-10 surface-to-air missiles. 
The system was being integrated into Russia's air defenses in 
1994, owing to Belarus's lack of resources. 

Manpower, Education, and Training 

In 1995 conscription was for eighteen months, with alterna- 
tive service available. In 1994 reserve forces numbered approx- 
imately 289,500 members, who had had military service in the 
previous five years. 

In the early 1990s, an issue in the training of troops was the 
teaching and use of the Belarusian language. There was resis- 
tance in the Ministry of Defense and in the armed forces them- 
selves to the idea of using the Belarusian language; officials 
claimed that the Belarusian armed forces were being "politi- 
cized." But little progress had been made in 1994 toward the 
use of Belarusian in the military, as called for by the draft law 
entitled About the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, 
which stipulated the use of both the Belarusian and the Rus- 
sian languages, with a gradual transition to Belarusian. 

Expenditures 

The defense budget for 1994 was estimated at 686.6 billion 
Belarusian rubles, accounting for 4.5 percent of GDP and 



86 



Belarus 



reflecting a slight increase in real terms over the previous few 
years. One reason for this was that Belarus had obligated itself 
in a treaty to cover a larger share of the costs in maintaining 
the army units of other former Soviet republics stationed on its 
soil. Another was that the government made large outlays in 
acquiring strategic stockpiles, mostly of fuel reserves. 

Nuclear Weapons 

When the Soviet Union dissolved, Belarus (along with Rus- 
sia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) technically became a nuclear 
power because of the eighty-one SS-25 intercontinental ballis- 
tic missiles on its soil, even though the republic's Declaration of 
State Sovereignty declared Belarus to be a nuclear-free state. In 
May 1992, Belarus signed the Lisbon Protocol to the NPT and, 
along with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, agreed to destroy or turn 
over to Russia all strategic nuclear warheads on its territory. 

To achieve this objective, the Supreme Soviet had to ratify 
the START I treaty. For some time, however, the legislature 
stalled while seeking international guarantees of the republic's 
security and international funding to carry out the removal. 
Finally, on February 4, 1993, the START I treaty was ratified, 
and adherence to the NPT was approved. All tactical nuclear 
weapons were removed from Belarus by mid-1993, but 
although the country strove to remove the strategic nuclear 
weapons (based at Lida and Mazyr) by 1995, there was little 
hope of meeting this deadline. In February 1995, Lukashyenka 
decided to stop arms reductions called for by the Conventional 
Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE Treaty — see Glossary), claiming 
NATO encroachments on Belarus's territory; in truth, his deci- 
sion was a matter of finances. These remaining strategic 
nuclear weapons were tended by Russian troops who would 
continue to be stationed in Belarus until 2020, according to the 
customs union agreements reached with Russia in January and 
February 1995 (see Russian Troops, this ch.). 

The Defense Industry 

Belarus's large defense industry has been severely hit by the 
country's cutbacks in imports of fuels and raw materials as well 
as by decreased demand for military products across the 
former Soviet Union in general. Because Belarus is now paying 
higher prices for its fuels and raw materials, the cost of its prod- 
ucts has increased, prompting a decrease in purchases not only 
by Russia but by other former Soviet republics as well. Conver- 



87 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

sion to civilian industry has not been quick or successful, as is 
the case across the former Soviet bloc. Belarus is hopeful that 
its defense industry will get more business from Russia now 
that Belarus is paying some of the costs of maintaining Russian 
troops on Belarusian soil. Belarus has also tried to increase its 
arms markets. In mid-1995 arms deals with Iran and China 
were pending. 

The Commonwealth of Independent States 

Geopolitically, Belarus is as strategically important to Russia 
today as it was in the times of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf 
Hitler. Therefore, repeated invitations were extended to Minsk 
from the CIS to join in a military alliance. Shushkyevich 
refused to sign the CIS Treaty on Collective Security that six 
other CIS states had signed in May 1992. He believed such a 
move would contravene the Declaration of State Sovereignty, 
which defines Belarus as a neutral state, and that an indepen- 
dent Belarusian army was essential to maintaining the repub- 
lic's independence from Russia. The Supreme Soviet in April 
1993 nonetheless voted to sign the treaty and eventually took 
revenge on Shushkyevich for his views on the CIS security 
treaty by dismissing him in January 1994, officially on charges 
of corruption. At the same time, accords were also signed on 
closer economic cooperation with other CIS member states. 

Although Belarus joined NATO's Partnership for Peace, it 
strongly supported Moscow's objections to NATO expansion in 
Central Europe. The opposition, which realized that Belarus's 
full membership in NATO would not come about, suggested a 
Baltic-to-Black Sea zone of economic and political cooperation 
encompassing Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, 
Ukraine, and Moldova. Not only was this idea anathema to pro- 
Russian elements in Belarusian society, but Poland and the Bal- 
tic states would reject it as well if it threatened their prospects 
for full membership in NATO. 

Russian Troops 

The removal from Belarusian territory of both strategic 
nuclear arms and tens of thousands of Russian soldiers is a task 
as delicate and problematic as it is important if Belarus is to 
achieve its stated constitutional goal of neutrality. 

In 1993 there were an estimated 40,000 troops of the Rus- 
sian air force in Belarus, comprising one air division with 130 
combat aircraft. This consisted of one regiment with thirty Su- 



88 



Belarus 



24 fighter-bombers, one heavy bomber division of four regi- 
ments with fifteen Tu-22M Backfire bombers and fifty Tu-22 
medium-range bombers, and one regiment with twenty Tu- 
22M Backfire bombers and fifteen Tu-16 medium-range bomb- 
ers. 

Most of these troops were engaged in work related to the 
seventy-two strategic nuclear missiles based at Lida and Mazyr 
and were scheduled to leave Belarus in 1995, the anticipated 
deadline for transferring all nuclear weapons to Russia. This 
transfer, which depended greatly on housing being built for 
the troops in Russia, was viewed as unrealistic by mid-1995. An 
October 1994 announcement stated that two Russian nonnu- 
clear military installations would remain in Belarus. 

Despite the creation of a Belarusian army, Belarus had to 
contend with the fact that the bulk of its officer corps remained 
composed of ethnic Russians. However, the reduction of troops 
from 1993 to 1995 included a reduction in the number of offi- 
cers, which meant fewer ethnic Russian generals. 

Internal Security 

As with many other Belarusian institutions, the internal 
security forces were inherited more or less intact when the 
Soviet Union was dissolved. The local assets of these institu- 
tions were transferred to the new government and continued 
functioning with basically the same policies and, very often, the 
same personnel. In 1995 the country's security service retained 
the name KGB. 

The former communist, pro-Russian hard-liners still in 
charge of many of Belarus's institutions are determined to stay 
in power. One of their methods is censorship. They call news- 
paper editors in for "chats" about government policy and the 
subsidies that keep many periodicals afloat. They also enforced 
the media restrictions on coverage of the May 1995 parliamen- 
tary elections, which kept newspapers from publishing inter- 
views with the candidates and stories about the campaign in 
general. 

Crime 

A drastic decline in living standards and the general break- 
down in law and order throughout the former Soviet Union 
have contributed greatly to a dramatic rise in crime in Belarus. 
In the first half of 1993, Belarus's murder rate increased by 
almost 50 percent and muggings by almost 60 percent. Orga- 



89 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

nized crime is present in Belarus as well. Independent Belarus 
has also become a transshipment point for illegal drugs 
intended for Western Europe; locally produced opium and 
cannabis supply Belarus's own populace. 

One of the more public crimes in the republic is corruption 
in the government. Although Alyaksandr Lukashyenka cam- 
paigned on an anticorruption platform, accusations of corrup- 
tion have stuck to his administration. In December 1994, 
Syarhyey Antonchyk read a report in the Supreme Soviet charg- 
ing a number of high-level administration figures with corrup- 
tion, which led a number of these figures to offer their 
resignations. Lukashyenka refused to accept the resignations 
and banned four independent newspapers from publishing the 
report. Such incidents are generally acknowledged to be just 
the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 

Human Rights 

Belarus's transition from the authoritarian institutions of 
the Soviet era to democratic ones has been spotty, and human 
rights abuses continue. The government, even before the elec- 
tion of Lukashyenka as president, continued to restrict free- 
dom of speech, press, and peaceful assembly, among other 
rights. 

Although the constitution provides for freedom of speech, 
this right is observed more in the breach. The government 
continues to use slander and defamation laws to suppress criti- 
cism of its policies and government officials. It also retains a vir- 
tual economic monopoly over the press through its ownership 
of nearly all printing and broadcasting facilities. This absence 
of independence encourages editors to censor themselves. In 
other cases, the government simply removes the editor of a 
publication, cancels a publication's contract for paper, elimi- 
nates a publication's government subsidy, or denies a publica- 
tion access to state-owned printing facilities. 

Freedom of assembly is also guaranteed by the constitution, 
but this too is enforced arbitrarily. Despite the law's explicit 
statement of procedures for obtaining permission for rallies or 
marches, officials still deny permission when it suits them or 
higher levels of the government. 

There have been many reports of beatings of prisoners, 
mainly in the prison in Hrodna, by prison guards or with their 
complicity. Although such actions are against the law, it is rare 
for the government to punish perpetrators. Amnesty Interna- 



90 



Belarus 



tional has been denied access to the prison routinely, on 
grounds of security. 

In July 1993, Belarus abolished its death penalty for four 
economic crimes. A revised criminal code under consideration 
by the parliament would reduce the number of offenses carry- 
ing a possible death sentence to eight: preparing and conduct- 
ing an aggressive war, acts of terrorism against a representative 
of another state, international terrorism, genocide, premedi- 
tated murder, treason, sabotage, and terrorist acts and conspir- 
acy to seize power. 

* * * 

Published materials dealing with Belarus are still somewhat 
scarce. A standard work, covering Belarus from its earliest his- 
tory through the mid-1950s, is Nicholas P. Vakar's Belorussia: 
The Making of a Nation, which also covers many aspects of the 
culture. Another work, which briefly discusses earlier history, 
despite its title, is Ivan S. Lubachko's Belorussia under Soviet Rule, 
1917-1957, which emphasizes the Soviet era. A more recent 
book is Jan Zaprudnik's Belarus: At a Crossroads in History. 
Belarus, an economic review by the International Monetary 
Fund, provides a picture of Belarus's economy after 1991 and 
includes tables on a variety of economic performance indica- 
tors in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. 

Current information on Belarus, with an emphasis on polit- 
ical, economic, and national security topics, is provided in the 
Foreign Broadcast Information Service's Daily Report: Central 
Eurasia. Transition, a new biweekly Open Media Research Insti- 
tute (the successor organization to Radio Free Europe) publi- 
cation begun in January 1995, tends to have one longer article 
on Belarus per issue. (For further information and complete 
citations, see Bibliography.) 



91 



Chapter 2. Moldova 




Antique Moldovan 



Chronology of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



SECOND-THIRD CENTURIES 
ca. 105-271 



Rome occupies territory of future Romanian lands. 



FOURTEENTH CENTURY 
1349 



Prince Bogdan establishes Bogdania, later renamed Mol- 
dova, stretching from Carpathian Mountains to Nistru 
River. 



SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
1512 



Although Stephen the Great (1457-1504) achieves signifi- 
cant victories against Ottoman Empire, Moldova 
becomes tributary state of empire for 300 years. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
First half 



First Moldovan books appear. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
1792 



Ottoman Empire cedes all its holdings in Transnistria to 
Russian Empire under Treaty of Iasi. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY 
1812 



1858 



Bessarabia is incorporated into Russian Empire under 
Treaty of Bucharest after Russo-Turkish War (1806-12). 

Moldovan territory west of Prut River is united with Wala- 
chia. Alexandru loan Cuza is elected prince of the two 
regions the following year. 



TWENTIETH CENTURY 
1917 



1918 
1924 



1940 June 
August 

1941 

1944 
1947 



February Revolution and Bolshevik Revolution bring 
down Russian Empire. Bessarabia's newly created 
National Council declares Bessarabia the independent 
Democratic Moldovan Republic, federated with Russia. 

Bessarabia declares its complete independence from Rus- 
sia and votes to unite with Romania. 

Soviet government creates Moldavian Autonomous Oblast 
on east bank of Nistru River. Seven months later, oblast 
is upgraded to Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist 
Republic (Moldavian ASSR) 

Bessarabia is occupied by Soviet forces as result of secret 
protocol attached to 1939 Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression 
Pact. 

Soviet government creates Moldavian Soviet Socialist 
Republic (Moldavian SSR) from most of Bessarabia and 
portion of Moldavian ASSR. 

Germany and Romania attack Moldavian SSR and Ukrai- 
nian SSR; Nazi Germany gives Bessarabia, northern Bu- 
kovina, and Transnistria to Romania. 

Soviet forces reoccupy Bessarabia and Transnistria. 

Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and Transnistria are for- 
mally returned to Soviet Union by treaty. 



95 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Chronology of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



1950-52 



1986 



1988 



1989 

1990 February 



June 

August 
September 

1991 May 

August 

October 
December 



1992 March 
May 
July 

1993 January 
February 
November 



As first secretary of Communist Party of Moldavia, Leonid 
I. Brezhnev liquidates and deports thousands of ethnic 
Romanians from Moldavia and institutes forced collec- 
tivization. 

Mikhail S. Gorbachev announces policy of perestroika in 
Moscow at Twenty-Seventh Party Congress of the Com- 
munist Party of the Soviet Union. 

Yedinstvo-Unitatea Inter movement is formed by Slavs in 
Transnistria. 

Moldovan Popular Front is formed. 

Popular Front organizes "Republic's Voters Meeting," 
attended by more than 100,000 persons. First demo- 
cratic elections are held for Supreme Soviet of Molda- 
vian SSR. Runoff elections are held in March. Mircea 
Snegur is elected chairman of Supreme Soviet. 

Name of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic is changed to 
Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova. Supreme Soviet 
adopts declaration of sovereignty. 

Gagauz declare independent "Gagauz Republic." 

Slavs in Transnistria proclaim independent "Dnestr Mol- 
davian Republic." Snegur becomes president of Soviet 
Socialist Republic of Moldova. 

Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova is renamed Republic 
of Moldova. Supreme Soviet changes its name to Moldo- 
van Parliament. 

August coup d'etat takes place in Moscow. Moldovan Par- 
liament bans Communist Party of Moldavia. Moldova 
declares its complete independence from Soviet Union 
on August 27 and demands withdrawal of Soviet troops. 

President Snegur announces decision to organize Mol- 
dova's own national armed forces. 

Stepan Topal is elected president of "Gagauz Republic." 
Igor' N. Smirnov is elected president of "Dnestr Molda- 
vian Republic." Minsk Agreement establishes Common- 
wealth of Independent States (CIS). President Snegur 
signs Alma-Ata Declaration, which expands membership 
of CIS, but Moldovan Parliament refuses to ratify decla- 
ration. Soviet Union is dissolved. United States recog- 
nizes Moldova. 

Government of Moldova declares state of emergency in 
reaction to mounting violence. 

Armed resistance by separatists escalates to full-scale civil 
war in Transnistria. 

An agreement establishing a cease-fire in Moldova is 
signed by Moldovan president Snegur and Russian presi- 
dent Boris N. Yeltsin. 

Moldovan Parliament refuses to sign agreement strength- 
ening CIS. 

Moldovan Popular Front is re-formed as Christian Demo- 
cratic Popular Front. 
Moldova introduces its own currency, the leu. 



96 



Moldova 



Chronobgy of Important Events 



Period 



Description 



1994 February 



March 



April 

August 

October 



1995 March 



June 



Parliamentary elections drastically change Moldovan gov- 
ernment. Popular Front majority is gone, and compro- 
mises are made with nationalities on various issues. 

Public opinion poll is held. Populace votes overwhelm- 
ingly to retain independence. 

Moldova votes to join CIS. 

New Moldovan constitution goes into effect. 

Moldova and Russia sign agreement on withdrawal of Rus- 
sian 14th Army from Transnistria and Tighina (Bendery 
or Bender in Russian), but only Moldovan government 
approves it. 

Students, intelligentsia, workers, and pensioners demon- 
strate in Chisinau over cultural and educational issues 
and the name of the language. 

Lieutenant General Aleksandr V. Lebed' resigns as com- 
mander of Russian 14th Army. Replaced by Major Gene- 
ral Valeriy Yevnevich. 



Russian 14th Army is downgraded to an operational 
group. 



Moldova joins Council of Europe. 



97 



Country Profile 



Country 

Formal Name: Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova). 

Short Form: Moldova. 

Term for Citizens: Moldovan(s). 

Capital: Chisinau. 

Date of Independence: August 27, 1991. 
Geography 

Size: Approximately 33,700 square kilometers. 

Topography: Gently rolling, hilly plain in north; thick deci- 
duous forests in center; numerous ravines and gullies in steppe 
zone in south. Highest point 430 meters. 

Climate: Moderately continental. Average annual precipitation 
ranges from 400 millimeters in south to 600 millimeters in 
north. 

Society 

Population: 4,473,033 (July 1994 estimate), with an average 
annual growth rate of 0.38 percent. 

Ethnic Groups: According to 1989 census, an estimated 65 
percent Romanian, 14 percent Ukrainian, 13 percent Russian, 
4 percent Gagauz, 2 percent Bulgarian, and remainder Jewish, 
Belorussian, Polish, Roma (Gypsy), and German. 

Languages: Moldovan (a dialect of Romanian) is the official 
language. Russian retained as language of interethnic com- 
munication; areas of non-Romanian ethnic majority may also 
use local language as means of communication. 



99 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Religion: About 98.5 percent of population Orthodox (1991). 
Other denominations include Uniate, Jewish, Armenian 
Apostolic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Baptist, Pentecostal, and 
Molokan (a Russian Orthodox sect). 

Education and Literacy: Compulsory school attendance ten 
years; literacy rate 96 percent (1992). Approximately half of 
students study in Romanian language and half in Russian 
language. 

Health: Health care provided by state, mostly free of charge. 
Infant mortality rate 30.3 per 1,000 live births (1994). Life 
expectancy in 1994 sixty-five years for males and seventy-two 
years for females. Modern medical equipment and facilities in 
short supply. In 1990 about 129 hospital beds and forty doctors 
per 10,000 inhabitants. 

Economy 

General Character: Centralized. Government efforts to 
privatize and establish market economy slow. 

Net Material Product (NMP): In 1991 about US$13.1 billion; 
real growth rate -11.9 percent in 1992. Agriculture accounted 
for 42 percent of NMP in 1991, followed by industry with 38 
percent and other sectors with 24 percent. 

Agriculture: State and collective farms from Soviet period 
transformed into joint-stock companies. Primary crops: fruits 
and berries, grains, grapes, tobacco, vegetables, sugar beets, 
potatoes, and sunflowers. Cattle, hogs, poultry, and sheep 
raised. 

Industry: Food processing, machinery and metalworking, light 
industry, building materials, tractors, and wood products. 

Minerals: No commercial mineral deposits. 

Energy: Primary energy sources (minor hydroelectric and 
thermal power plants, and firewood) meet only 1 percent of 
domestic needs. Highly dependent on Russia for nearly all oil, 
gasoline, coal, and natural gas needed to fuel electric-power 
generation plants. 



100 



Moldova 



Foreign Trade: In 1994 nearly three-quarters of foreign trade 
with other members of Commonwealth of Independent States. 
Most imports and vast majority of exports still directed toward 
territories of former Soviet Union. Imports: industrial raw 
materials, fossil fuels, and manufactured goods. Exports: wine 
and spirits, processed foods, and clothing and textiles. 

Fiscal Year: Calendar year. 

Currency and Exchange Rate: The leu (pi., lei), introduced in 
November 1993. In January 1995, 4.27 lei per US$1. 

Transportation and Telecommunications 

Roads: In 1995 estimated at 20,100 kilometers, including 
14,000 kilometers of paved surfaces. 

Railroads: In 1995 estimated at 1,150 kilometers. 

Airports: Major airport in Chisinau. 

Inland Waterways: Main river, Nistru, navigable almost entire 
length, but water transport only of local importance. Only 
eight rivers extend more than 100 kilometers. 

Telecommunications: In 1995 one private television channel 
and three state television channels: Moldovan, Romanian, and 
Russian. In 1994 nine AM radio stations in four cities and five 
FM stations in five cities, as well as a number of private radio 
stations. 

Government and Politics 

Government: Democracy, with president and unicameral 
legislature, Moldovan Parliament, both popularly elected. 
Government composed of president and Council of Ministers. 
General Prosecution Office headed by prosecutor general. 
New constitution went into effect August 2V, 1994. Two self- 
proclaimed republics: "Gagauzia," recognized and granted 
autonomy; and "Dnestr Moldavian Republic," with an elected, 
extralegal separatist government. 

Politics: Leading parties after 1994 parliamentary elections: 



101 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova, Christian Democratic 
Popular Front, Congress of Peasants and Intellectuals, Gagauz 
Halki, and Yedinstvo/Socialist Bloc. 

Foreign Relations: First recognized by Romania; as of early 
1995, recognized by more than 170 states, including United 
States (December 25, 1991). Foreign diplomatic presence in 
Chisinau limited. Relations with Romania influenced by issue 
of reunification of the two countries. Relations with Ukraine 
improved as a result of less nationalistic Moldovan policies; 
presence of Russian 14th Army in Transnistria seen as a 
common threat. Relationship with Russia very tense. 

International Agreements and Memberships: Member of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (until 
January 1995 known as the Conference on Security and Co- 
operation in Europe), United Nations, International Monetary 
Fund, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, North Atlantic Cooperation Council, and 
Community of Riparian Countries of the Black Sea. Observer 
at General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World 
Trade Organization (successor to GATT). Alma-Ata Declara- 
tion, expanding membership of Commonwealth of Indep- 
endent States (CIS), signed by president December 1991 but 
not ratified by Parliament until April 1994. Member of 
Commonwealth of Independent States as of that date. 

National Security 

Armed Forces: Armed forces under Ministry of Defense. In 
1994 totaled approximately 11,100: ground forces (9,800, 
including army and Guard Battalion) and air force (1,300, 
including air defense). No navy. Reserves of 100,000 (those 
who had had military service in previous five years). Universal 
conscription, for up to eighteen months. 

Major Military Units: In 1994 army consisted of three motor 
rifle brigades, one artillery brigade, and one reconnaissance 
assault battalion. Air force consisted of one fighter regiment, 
one helicopter squadron, and one missile brigade. 

Military Equipment: Arms from former Soviet stocks and 



102 



Moldova 

undetermined quantities of arms from Romania. 

Internal Security: In 1994 national police (10,000). Internal 
troops (2,500) and OPON riot police (900) under Ministry of 
Interior. Border Guards under Ministry of National Security. 
Local assets of former Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic KGB 
transferred to new government (along with personnel who 
wished to transfer) to form new Ministry of National Security. 

Russian Troops: In 1994 Russian 14th Army (9,200). "Dnestr 
Moldavian Republic" forces (5,000) include Dnestr Battalion of 
Republic Guard and "Cossacks" (approximately 1,000). 



103 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Boundary representation 
not necessarily authoritative 



UKRAINE 



-48 /" 



1 Edinet 



Soroca 



' Balti 



Orhei 



ROMANIA 



i^JJngheni 
- : Strasenim 

\ Chisinau 



Dubasari • " - J 
Grigoriopol\ 



Tiraspol 
Tighina* * 

(Bendery) 



Com rati 




Ciadir-Lunga • Jj 

r" 



■ International boundary 
National capital 
Populated place 

25 50 Kilometers 



j • Cahul 
. Vulcanesti f 

1 <m 



I 



W 46 ~ 



Sea 



Figure 12. Moldova, 1995 



104 



THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA is the his- 
tory of two different regions that have been joined into one 
country, but not into one nation: Bessarabia and Transnistria. 
Bessarabia, the land between the Prut and Nistru rivers, is pre- 
dominantly ethnic Romanian in population and constitutes the 
eastern half of a region historically known as Moldova or Mol- 
davia (the Soviet-era Russian name). Transnistria is the Roma- 
nian-language name for the land on the east bank of the Nistru 
River; the majority of the population there is Slavic — ethnic 
Ukrainians and Russians — although Romanians are the single 
largest ethnic group . 

To a great extent, Moldova's history has been shaped by the 
foreigners who came to stay and by those who merely passed 
through, including Greek colonists, invading Turks and Tatars, 
officials of the Russian Empire, German and Bulgarian colo- 
nists, communist apparatchiks (see Glossary) from the Soviet 
Union, soldiers from Nazi Germany, Romanians, and twenti- 
eth-century Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Each group 
has left its own legacy, sometimes cultural and sometimes polit- 
ical, and often unwelcome. 

Moldova's communist overlords, the most recent "foreign- 
ers," created the public life that exists in Moldova today. Inde- 
pendence has brought about changes in this public life, but 
often only on the surface. What further changes Moldova 
makes will depend partly on how much time it has before the 
next group of "foreigners" comes to call. 

Historical Setting 
Early History 

Moldova's Latin origins can be traced to the period of 
Roman occupation of nearby Dacia (in present-day Romania, 
Bulgaria, and Serbia), ca. A.D. 105-271, when a culture was 
formed from the intermingling of Roman colonists and the 
local population. After the Roman Empire and its influence 
waned and its troops left the region in A.D. 271, a number of 
groups passed through the area, often violently: Huns, 
Ostrogoths, and Antes (who were Slavs). The Bulgarian 
Empire, the Magyars, the Pechenegs, and the Golden Horde 
(Mongols) also held sway temporarily. In the thirteenth cen- 



105 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

tury, Hungary expanded into the area and established a line of 
fortifications in Moldova near the Siretul River (in present-day 
Romania) and beyond. The region came under Hungarian 
suzerainty until an independent Moldovan principality was 
established by Prince Bogdan in 1349. Originally called Bogda- 
nia, the principality stretched from the Carpathian Mountains 
to the Nistru River and was later renamed Moldova, after the 
Moldova River in present-day Romania. 

During the second half of the fifteenth century, all of south- 
eastern Europe came under increasing pressure from the Otto- 
man Empire, and despite significant military victories by 
Stephen the Great (Stefan eel Mare, 1457-1504), Moldova suc- 
cumbed to Ottoman power in 1512 and was a tributary state of 
the empire for the next 300 years. In addition to paying tribute 
to the Ottoman Empire and later acceding to the selection of 
local rulers by Ottoman authorities, Moldova suffered repeated 
invasions by Turks, Crimean Tatars, and Russians. 

In 1792 the Treaty of Iasi forced the Ottoman Empire to 
cede all of its holdings in what is now Transnistria to the Rus- 
sian Empire. An expanded Bessarabia was annexed by, and 
incorporated into, the Russian Empire following the Russo- 
Turkish War of 1806-12 according to the terms of the Treaty of 
Bucharest of 1812 (see fig. 13). In 1858 Moldovan territory 
west of the Prut River was united with Walachia. And in the 
same year, Alexandru loan Cuza was elected prince of Walachia 
and the part of Moldova that lay west of the Prut River, laying 
the foundations of modern Romania. These two regions were 
united in 1861. 

The Beginning of the Soviet Period 

In 1917, during World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, 
political leaders in Bessarabia created a National Council 
(Sfatul Tarii), which declared Bessarabia the independent 
Democratic Moldovan Republic, federated with Russia. In Feb- 
ruary 1918, the new republic declared its complete indepen- 
dence from Russia and, two months later, voted to unite with 
Romania, thus angering the Russian government. 

After the creation of the Soviet Union (see Glossary) in 
December 1922, the Soviet government moved in 1924 to 
establish the Moldavian Autonomous Oblast on land east of the 
Nistru River in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrai- 
nian SSR) . The capital of the oblast was at Balta, in present-day 
Ukraine. Seven months later, the oblast was upgraded to the 



106 



Moldova 



Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian 
ASSR), even though its population was only 30 percent ethnic 
Romanian. The capital remained at Balta until 1929, when it 
was moved to Tiraspol (Tiraspol' in Russian) (see fig. 14). 

In June 1940, Bessarabia was occupied by Soviet forces as a 
consequence of a secret protocol attached to the 1939 Nazi- 
Soviet Nonaggression Pact (see Glossary). On August 2, 1940, 
the Soviet government created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist 
Republic (Moldavian SSR), with its capital at Chisinau (Kishi- 
nev in Russian), by joining most of Bessarabia (see Glossary) 
with a portion of the Moldavian ASSR (the rest was returned to 
the Ukrainian SSR). Part of the far northern Moldavian ASSR 
(Herta — in present-day Ukraine), northern Bukovina (see 
Glossary), and southern Bessarabia (bordering on the Black 
Sea) were taken from Romania and incorporated into the 
Ukrainian SSR, leaving the Moldavian SSR landlocked. 

Territorial Changes in World War II 

In June 1941, German and Romanian troops attacked the 
Moldavian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR. Nazi Germany gave 
Romania, its ally, not only Bessarabia and northern Bukovina 
but also the land between the Nistru and Pivdennyy Buh (Yuzh- 
nyy Bug in Russian) rivers, north to Bar in Ukraine, which 
Romania named and administered as Transnistria. This 
arrangement lasted until August 1944, when Soviet forces reoc- 
cupied Bessarabia and Transnistria. A 1947 treaty formally 
returned Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and Transnistria to 
the Soviet Union, and the previous Soviet administrative divi- 
sions and Russian place-names were reimposed. 

Postwar Reestablishment of Soviet Control 

With the restoration of Soviet power in the Moldavian SSR, 
Joseph V. Stalin's government policy was to Russify (see Glos- 
sary) the population of the Moldavian SSR and destroy any 
remaining ties it had with Romania. Secret police struck at 
nationalist groups; the Cyrillic alphabet (see Glossary) was 
imposed on the "Moldavian" (see Glossary) language; and eth- 
nic Russians and Ukrainians were encouraged to immigrate to 
the Moldavian SSR, especially to Transnistria. The govern- 
ment's policies — requisitioning large amounts of agricultural 
products despite a poor harvest — induced a famine following 
the catastrophic drought of 1945-47, and political, communist 
party, and academic positions were given to members of non- 



107 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 




Figure 13. Historical Romanian-Speaking Regions in Southeastern 
Europe 

Romanian ethnic groups (only 14 percent of the Moldavian 
SSR's political leaders were ethnic Romanians in 1946). 

The conditions imposed during the reestablishment of 
Soviet rule became the basis of deep resentment toward Soviet 
authorities — a resentment that soon manifested itself. During 
Leonid I. Brezhnev's 1950-52 tenure as first secretary of the 
Communist Party of Moldavia (CPM), he put down a rebellion 
of ethnic Romanians by killing or deporting thousands of peo- 
ple and instituting forced collectivization (see Glossary). 
Although Brezhnev and other CPM first secretaries were 
largely successful in suppressing "Moldavian" nationalism, the 
hostility of "Moldavians" smoldered for another three decades, 
until after Mikhail S. Gorbachev came to power. His policies of 
glasnost (see Glossary) and perestroika (see Glossary) created 
conditions in which national feelings could be openly 
expressed and in which the Soviet republics could consider 
reforms. 

Increasing Political Self-Expression 

In this climate of openness, political self-assertion escalated 



108 



Moldova 



Present-day international 

boundary 




Figure 14. Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) 
and Transnistria, 1924-95 



in the Moldavian SSR in 1988. The year 1989 saw the formation 
of the Moldovan Popular Front (commonly called the Popular 
Front), an association of independent cultural and political 
groups that had finally gained official recognition. Large dem- 
onstrations by ethnic Romanians led to the designation of 
Romanian as the official language and the replacement of the 
head of the CPM. However, opposition was growing to the 

109 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

increasing influence of ethnic Romanians, especially in Trans- 
nistria, where the Yedinstvo-Unitatea (Unity) Intermovement 
had been formed in 1988 by the Slavic minorities, and in the 
south, where Gagauz Halki (Gagauz People), formed in 
November 1989, came to represent the Gagauz, a Turkic-speak- 
ing minority there (see Ethnic Composition, this ch.). 

The first democratic elections to the Moldavian SSR's 
Supreme Soviet (see Glossary) were held February 25, 1990, 
and runoff elections were held in March. The Popular Front 
won a majority of the votes. After the elections, Mircea Snegur, 
a communist, was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet; in 
September he became president of the republic. The reformist 
government that took over in May 1990 made many changes 
that did not please the minorities, including changing the 
republic's name in June from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist 
Republic to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova and 
declaring it sovereign the same month. 

Secession of Gagauzia and Transnistria 

In August 1990, the Gagauz declared a separate "Gagauz 
Republic" (Gagauz-Yeri in Gagauz) in the south, around the 
city of Comrat (Komrat in Russian) . In September, Slavs on the 
east bank of the Nistru River proclaimed the "Dnestr Molda- 
vian Republic" (commonly called the "Dnestr Republic"; see 
Glossary) in Transnistria, with its capital at Tiraspol. Although 
the Supreme Soviet immediately declared these declarations 
null, both "republics" went on to hold elections. Stepan Topal 
was elected president of the "Gagauz Republic" in December 
1991, and Igor' N. Smirnov was elected president of the 
"Dnestr Republic" in the same month. 

Approximately 50,000 armed Moldovan nationalist volun- 
teers went to Transnistria, where widespread violence was tem- 
porarily averted by the intervention of the Russian 14th Army. 
(The Soviet 14th Army, now the Russian 14th Army, had been 
headquartered in Chisinau under the High Command of the 
Southwestern Theater of Military Operations since 1956.) 
Negotiations in Moscow among the Gagauz, the Transnistrian 
Slavs, and the government of the Soviet Socialist Republic of 
Moldova failed, and the government refused to join in further 
negotiations. 

In May 1991, the country's official name was changed to the 
Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova). The name of the 
Supreme Soviet also was changed, to the Moldovan Parliament. 



110 



Moldova 



Independence 

During the 1991 August coup d'etat (see Glossary) in Mos- 
cow, commanders of the Soviet Union's Southwestern Theater 
of Military Operations tried to impose a state of emergency in 
Moldova, but they were overruled by the Moldovan govern- 
ment, which declared its support for Russian president Boris N. 
Yeltsin. On August 27, 1991, following the coup's collapse, 
Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union 
(see Appendix D) . 

In October, Moldova began to organize its own armed 
forces. The Soviet Union was falling apart quickly, and Moldova 
had to rely on itself to prevent the spread of violence from the 
"Dnestr Republic" to the rest of the country The December 
elections of Topal and Smirnov as presidents of their respective 
"republics," and the official dissolution of the Soviet Union at 
the end of the year, led to increased tensions in Moldova. 

Violence again flared up in Transnistria in 1992. A cease-fire 
agreement was negotiated by presidents Snegur and Yeltsin in 
July. A demarcation line was to be maintained by a tripartite 
peacekeeping force (composed of Moldovan, Russian, and 
Transnistrian forces), and Moscow agreed to withdraw its 14th 
Army if a suitable constitutional provision were made for 
Transnistria. Also, Transnistria would have a special status 
within Moldova and would have the right to secede if Moldova 
decided to reunite with Romania. 

Progress Toward Political Accommodation 

New parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on Feb- 
ruary 27, 1994. Although the elections were described by inter- 
national observers as free and fair, authorities in Transnistria 
refused to allow balloting there and made efforts to discourage 
the inhabitants from participating. Only some 7,500 inhabit- 
ants voted at specially established precincts in right-bank Mol- 
dova. 

The results of a public opinion poll held on March 6 further 
reinforced the new Parliament's mandate to preserve Mol- 
dova's independence. Moldovans were asked if they wanted 
Moldova to remain an independent state, and the answer was a 
resounding — 94.5 percent — "yes." Transnistrians did not par- 
ticipate. 

The new Parliament, with its Democratic Agrarian Party of 
Moldova majority, did not face the same gridlock that charac- 



111 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

terized the old Parliament with its majority of Popular Front 
hard-line nationalists: legislation was passed, and changes were 
made. President Snegur signed the Partnership for Peace 
agreement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 
in March 1994, and in April Parliament approved Moldova's 
membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States 
(CIS — see Glossary) and in a CIS charter on economic union. 
On July 28, Parliament ratified a new constitution, which went 
into effect August 27, 1994, and provided substantial autonomy 
to Transnistria and to Gagauzia. 

Russia and Moldova signed an agreement in October 1994 
on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria and 
Tighina (Bendery or Bender in Russian) , but the Russian gov- 
ernment balked at ratifying it, and another stalemate ensued. 
Although the cease-fire was still in effect at the beginning of 
1995 and further negotiations were to include the Conference 
on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE — see Glossary) 
and the United Nations, there was little hope for progress in 
the near future toward settling the dispute and getting the Rus- 
sian troops to leave. 

In March and April 1995, Moldovan college and secondary- 
school students staged a series of strikes and demonstrations in 
Chisinau to protest the government's cultural and educational 
policies. The students were joined by segments of the local 
intelligentsia and later by workers and pensioners who were 
protesting for economic reasons. The most emotional issue was 
that of the national language: should it be called Moldovan, as 
named in the 1994 constitution, or Romanian, given that most 
experts regard Moldovan as a dialect of Romanian (see Lan- 
guage, this ch.). 

In an April 27 speech to Parliament, President Snegur asked 
it to amend the constitution and change the name of the lan- 
guage to Romanian. The final decision was postponed until the 
fall because of the stipulation that six months must pass before 
a proposed change to the constitution can be made. The stu- 
dent demonstrators declared a moratorium on further strikes 
until September 6. 

In 1995 Moldova was still faced with substantial domestic 
social and economic problems, but it seemed to be on the road 
to making progress toward the ideal of a free-market democ- 
racy. The country's complex ethnic makeup and the political 
legacy of the Soviet period continued to contribute to the gov- 
ernment's difficulties, but the fall from power of the extreme 



112 



Moldova 



nationalists in the 1994 parliamentary elections lowered ethnic 
tensions and allowed compromises to be made with the major 
ethnic groups. With Russia now a partner in negotiations on 
Transnistria and with pledges by the new government to 
respect the rights of the country's Russian-speaking populace, 
the threat of international hostilities has been greatly reduced. 

Physical Environment 

Located in southeastern Europe, Moldova is bordered on 
the west by Romania and on the north, south, and east by 
Ukraine. Most of its territory lies between the area's two main 
rivers, the Nistru and the Prut. The Nistru (Dnister in Ukrai- 
nian; Dnestr in Russian) forms a small part of Moldova's bor- 
der with Ukraine in the northeast, but it mainly flows through 
the eastern part of the country, separating Bessarabia and 
Transnistria. The Prut River forms Moldova's entire western 
boundary with Romania. 

Topography and Drainage 

Most of Moldova's approximately 33,700 square kilometers 
of territory (about the size of Maryland) cover a hilly plain cut 
deeply by many streams and rivers. Geologically, Moldova lies 
primarily on deep sedimentary rock that gives way to harder 
crystalline outcroppings only in the north, where higher eleva- 
tions are found on the margins of the foothills of the Car- 
pathian Mountains. 

The gently rolling Balti Plain (Stepa Balti in Romanian; 
Bel'tskaya ravnina in Russian) in northern Moldova (lying at 
ninety to 600 meters in elevation in the north) gives way to 
thick, deciduous forests in the Codri Hills (Podisul Codrilor in 
Romanian; Kodry in Russian), averaging 350 to 400 meters in 
elevation, where the most common trees are hornbeam, oak, 
linden, maple, wild pear, and wild cherry. The country's high- 
est point, Mount Balanesti (Balaneshty in Russian), is located 
in the west-central portion of the country and reaches 430 
meters. 

The Bugeac Plain (Budzhak in Russian) in the south has 
numerous ravines and gullies. Transnistria has spurs of the 
Volyn-Podolian Upland (Podisul Podolie in Romanian; Volyno- 
Podil's'ka vysochyna in Ukrainian), which are cut into by tribu- 
taries of the Nistru River. 



113 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

About 75 percent of Moldova is covered by a soil type called 
chernozem (see Glossary). In the northern highlands, more 
clay-textured soils are found; in the south, red-earth soil is pre- 
dominant. The soil becomes less fertile toward the south but 
can still support grape and sunflower production. The uplands 
have woodland soils, while southern Moldova is in the steppe 
(see Glossary) zone, although most steppe areas today are culti- 
vated. The lower reaches of the Prut River and the southern 
river valleys are saline marshes. 

Drainage in Moldova is to the south, toward the Black Sea 
lowlands, and eventually into the Black Sea, but only eight riv- 
ers extend more than 100 kilometers. Moldova's main river, the 
Nistru, is navigable throughout almost the entire country, and 
in warmer winters it does not freeze over. The Prut River is a 
tributary of the Danube River, which it joins at the far south- 
western tip of the country. 

Climate 

Moldova's climate is moderately continental: the summers 
are warm and long, with temperatures averaging about 20 °C, 
and the winters are relatively mild and dry, with January tem- 
peratures averaging -4°C. Annual rainfall, which ranges from 
around 400 millimeters in the south to 600 millimeters in the 
north, can vary greatly; long dry spells are not unusual. The 
heaviest rainfall occurs in early summer and again in October; 
heavy showers and thunderstorms are common. Because of the 
irregular terrain, heavy summer rains often cause erosion and 
river silting. 

Environmental Concerns 

Moldova's communist-era environmental legacy, like that of 
many other former Soviet republics, is one of environmental 
degradation. Agricultural practices such as overuse of pesti- 
cides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers were intended to 
increase agricultural output at all costs, without regard for the 
consequences. As a result, Moldova's soil and groundwater 
were contaminated by lingering chemicals, some of which 
(including DDT) have been banned in the West. 

Such practices continue in Moldova to the present day. In 
the early 1990s, per hectare use of pesticides in Moldova aver- 
aged approximately twenty times that of other former Soviet 
republics and Western nations. In addition, poor farming 
methods, such as destruction of forests to plant vineyards, have 



114 



Moldova 



contributed to the extensive soil erosion to which the country's 
rugged topography is already prone. 

Population and Ethnic Composition 

Population Characteristics 

In July 1994, Moldova's population was estimated at 
4,473,033, with an average annual growth rate of 0.38 percent. 
In 1992 the population's birth rate was 16.1 per 1,000 popula- 
tion (compared with Romania's fourteen per 1,000), the death 
rate was 10.2 per 1,000 (the same as Romania's), and the rate 
of natural population increase was 0.6 percent per year (0.9 
percent for Romania) (see table 7, Appendix A). The instabil- 
ity that had occurred throughout the Soviet Union at the time 
of its dissolution had a significant impact on these figures, as is 
seen by comparing them with the figures for 1989. In 1989 the 
birth rate was 18.9 per 1,000 population, the death rate was 9.2 
per 1,000, and the rate of natural population increase was 1.0 
percent. In 1992 the infant mortality rate was thirty-five per 
1,000 live births (compared with Romania's twenty-two per 
1,000 live births). In 1989 the size of the average Moldovan 
family was 3.4 persons. 

In 1991 about 28 percent of the population was under fif- 
teen years of age, and almost 13 percent was over sixty-five 
years of age (see fig. 15). Life expectancy in 1994 was sixty-five 
years for males and seventy-two years for females. 

Although Moldova is by far the most densely populated of 
the former Soviet republics (129 inhabitants per square kilo- 
meter in 1990, compared with thirteen inhabitants per square 
kilometer for the Soviet Union as a whole), it has few large cit- 
ies. The largest and most important of these is Chisinau, the 
country's capital and its most important industrial center. 
Founded in 1420, Chisinau is located in the center of the 
republic, on the Bic (Byk in Russian) River and in 1990 had a 
population of 676,000. The city's population is slightly more 
than 50 percent ethnic Romanian, with ethnic Russians consti- 
tuting approximately 25 percent and ethnic Ukrainians 13 per- 
cent. The proportion of ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians 
in the capital's population decreased in the years immediately 
after 1989 because of the emigration resulting from Moldavia's 
changing political situation and civil unrest. 

The second largest city in the republic, Tiraspol, had a pop- 
ulation of 184,000 in 1990. Located in Transnistria, Tiraspol 



115 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



AGE-GROUP 




300 200 



100 



100 200 



300 



POPULATION IN THOUSANDS 



Source: Based on information from World Bank, Statistical Handbook: States oftheFormer 
USSR, Washington, 1992, 279; and United Nations, Department for Economic 
and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Demographic Yearbook (Annuaire 
uque), 1992, New York, 1994, 184. 



Figure 15. Population Distribution of Moldavia by Age and Gender, 
1990 

served as the capital of the Moldavian ASSRfrom 1929 to 1940. 
It has remained an important center of administration, trans- 
portation, and manufacturing. In contrast to Chisinau, Tiras- 
pol had a population of only some 18 percent ethnic Roma- 
nians, with most of the remainder being ethnic Russians (41 
percent) and ethnic Ukrainians (32 percent). 

Other important cities include Balti (Bel'tsy in Russian), 
with a population of 162,000 in 1990, and Tighina, with a popu- 
lation of 132,000 in the same year. As in Tiraspol, ethnic Roma- 
nians are in the minority in both of these cities. 

Traditionally a rural country, Moldova gradually began 
changing its character under Soviet rule (see table 8, Appendix 
A). As urban areas became the sites of new industrial jobs and 



116 



Moldova 



of amenities such as health clinics, the population of cities and 
towns grew. The new residents were not only ethnic Romanians 
who had moved from rural areas but also many ethnic Russians 
and Ukrainians who had been recruited to fill positions in 
industry and government (see Ethnic Composition, this ch.). 

In 1990 Moldova's divorce rate of 3.0 divorces per 1,000 
population had risen from the 1987 rate of 2.7 divorces per 
1,000 population (see table 9, Appendix A). The usual stresses 
of marriage were exacerbated by a society in which women 
were expected to perform most of the housework in addition 
to their work outside the home. Compounding this were 
crowded housing conditions (with their resulting lack of pri- 
vacy) and, no doubt, the growing political crisis, which added 
its own strains. 

Ethnic Composition 

One of Moldova's characteristic traits is its ethnic diversity. 
As early as the beginning of the eighteenth century, Moldovan 
prince and scholar Dimitrie Cantemir observed that he "didn't 
believe that there [existed] a single country of the size of Mol- 
dova in which so many and such diverse peoples meet." 

At the time of the 1989 census, Moldova's total population 
was 4,335,360. The largest nationality in the republic, ethnic 
Romanians, numbered 2,795,000 persons, accounting for 
approximately 65 percent of the population. The other major 
nationalities were Ukrainians, about 600,000 (14 percent); Rus- 
sians, about 562,000 (13 percent); Gagauz, about 153,000 (4 
percent); and Bulgarians, about 88,000 (2 percent). The 
remaining population consisted of Jews, about 66,000, and 
smaller but appreciable numbers of Belorusssians, Poles, Roma 
(Gypsies), and Germans (see fig. 16). By contrast, in Transnis- 
tria ethnic Romanians accounted for only 40 percent of the 
population in 1989, followed by Ukrainians (28 percent), Rus- 
sians (25 percent), Bulgarians (2 percent), and Gagauz (1 per- 
cent) (see fig. 17). 

In the early 1990s, there was significant emigration from the 
republic, primarily from urban areas and primarily by Roma- 
nian minorities. In 1990 persons emigrating accounted for 6.8 
percent of the population. This figure rose to 10 percent in 
1991 before dropping sharply to 2 percent in 1992. 

Ethnic Romanians made up a sizable proportion of the 
urban population in 1989 (about half the population of Chi- 
sinau, for example), as well as a large proportion of the rural 



117 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



1989 POPULATION— 4,335,360 




Figure 16. Estimated Population Distribution of Moldavia by Ethnic 
Group, 1989 



1989 POPULATION— 546,400 



RUSSIAN 




UKRAINIAN 28% 



Source: Based on information from Vasile Nedelciuc, The Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, 
June 1992, 23. 

Figure 1 7. Estimated Population Distribution of Transnistria by 
Ethnic Group, 1989 



118 



Moldova 



population (80 percent), but only 23 percent of the ethnic 
Romanians lived in the republic's ten largest cities. Many eth- 
nic Romanians emigrated to Romania at the end of World War 
II, and others had lost their lives during the war and in postwar 
Soviet purges. As a consequence of industrial growth and the 
Soviet government's policy of diluting and Russifying ethnic 
Romanians, there was significant immigration to the Moldavian 
SSR by other nationalities, especially ethnic Russians and 
Ukrainians. 

Unlike ethnic Romanians, ethnic Russians tend to be urban 
dwellers in Moldova; more than 72 percent of them lived in the 
ten largest cities in 1989. Many of them came to the Moldavian 
SSR after it was annexed by the Soviet government in 1940; 
more arrived after World War II. Ostensibly, they came to allevi- 
ate the Moldavian SSR's postwar labor shortage (although 
thousands of ethnic Romanians were being deported to Cen- 
tral Asia at the time) and to fill leadership positions in industry 
and the government. The Russians settled mainly in Chisinau 
and Tighina and in the Transnistrian cities of Tiraspol and 
Dubasari (Dubossary in Russian). Only about 25 percent of 
Moldova's Russians lived in Transnistria in the early 1990s (see 
fig. 18). 

Ethnic Ukrainians in Moldova are more evenly distributed 
between rural and urban areas. Forty-seven percent of them 
resided in large cities in 1989; others lived in long-settled vil- 
lages dispersed throughout the region, but particularly in the 
north and in Transnistria. 

The Gagauz, Turkic-speaking Orthodox Christians (unlike 
most Turks, who are Muslims), are concentrated in rural south- 
ern Moldova, mainly around the cities of Comrat, Ciadir-Lunga 
(Chadyr-Lunga in Russian), and Vulcanesti (Vulkaneshty in 
Russian). Their ethnic origin is complex and still debated by 
scholars, but it is agreed that they migrated to Bessarabia from 
Bulgaria in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Shortly after Moldova declared its sovereignty, in August 1990 
the Gagauz declared their own independent "Gagauz Repub- 
lic" in the southern part of the country. The 1994 constitution 
accorded them a measure of autonomy, and a decree later that 
year officially established Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri in Gagauz). 

Ethnic Bulgarians in Moldova live mainly in the southern 
part of the country. Most of them are descendants of eigh- 
teenth-century settlers who came to the region because of per- 
secution by the Turks. Others came to Bessarabia when the 



119 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 




Figure 18. Ethnic Groups in Moldova 

Russian Empire encouraged their emigration in the nine- 
teenth century. Their numbers declined from 177,000 when 
the Moldavian SSR was formed in 1940 to 88,000 in the 1989 
census. 

Although considered a religious affiliation in the West, 'Jew- 
ish" was considered a nationality by Soviet authorities, even 
though Judaism was suppressed as a religion. Although Jews 
had lived in Bessarabia and the region of Moldova for centuries 



120 



Moldova 



before Empress Catherine II of Russia established the Pale of 
Settlement, Jews in Russia were restricted to living and travel- 
ing solely within the Pale as of 1792. By the nineteenth century, 
the Pale included Russian Poland, Lithuania, Belorussia, most 
of Ukraine, Crimea, and Bessarabia. It was only in the second 
half of the nineteenth century that exceptions were made and 
Jews were permitted to live outside the Pale. 

Most of the prolonged military conflict of World War I and 
the Russian Civil War took place in the Pale, inflicting heavy 
losses of life and property on Jews. When it was created in 1940, 
the Moldavian SSR (mainly Chisinau) held more than 200,000 
Jews. However, their numbers plummeted to only several thou- 
sand as a result of emigration. Their ranks increased again dur- 
ing the 1960s and 1970s, only to decline afterward, mainly the 
result of emigration. 

In general, Jews in independent Moldova are not discrimi- 
nated against. But problems in Transnistria (home to almost 
one-quarter of Moldova's Jews) and the anti-Semitic attitudes of 
the "Dnestr Republic" authorities have prompted many Trans- 
nistrian Jews to think of emigration. 

Language, Religion, and Culture 
Language 

The Moldovan dialect of Romanian, a Romance language 
descended from Latin and spoken by the majority of the peo- 
ple of Bessarabia, was viewed by both the Russian Empire and 
the Soviet Union as an impediment to controlling the local 
populace. Under the tsars, Romanian-language education and 
the Romanian press were forbidden as part of a process of 
forced Russification. 

Stalin justified the creation of the Moldavian SSR by claim- 
ing that a distinct "Moldavian" language was an indicator that 
"Moldavians" were a separate nationality from the Romanians 
in Romania. In order to give greater credence to this claim, in 
1940 Stalin imposed the Cyrillic alphabet on "Moldavian" to 
make it look more like Russian and less like Romanian; archaic 
Romanian words of Slavic origin were imposed on "Molda- 
vian"; Russian loanwords and phrases were added to "Molda- 
vian"; and a new theory was advanced that "Moldavian" was at 
least partially Slavic in origin. In 1949 Moldavian citizens were 
publicly reprimanded in a journal for daring to express them- 



121 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

selves in literary Romanian. The Soviet government continued 
this type of behavior for decades. 

Proper names were subjected to Russianization (see Glos- 
sary) as well. Russian endings were added to purely Romanian 
names, and individuals were referred to in the Russian manner 
by using a patronymic (based on one's father's first name) 
together with a first name. 

In 1989 members of most of the Moldavian SSR's nationali- 
ties claimed their national language as their mother tongue: 
Romanians (95 percent), Ukrainians (62 percent), Russians 
(99 percent), Gagauz (91 percent), Bulgarians (79 percent), 
and Roma (82 percent). The exceptions were Jews (26 percent 
citing Yiddish), Belorussians (43 percent), Germans (31 per- 
cent), and Poles (10 percent). 

Although both Romanian written in the Cyrillic alphabet 
(that is, "Moldavian") and Russian were the official languages 
of the Moldavian SSR, only 62 percent of the total population 
claimed Romanian as their native language in 1979. If ethnic 
Romanians are subtracted from this number, the figure falls to 
just over 1 percent. Only 4 percent of the entire population 
claimed Romanian as a second language. 

In 1979 Russian was claimed as a native language by a large 
proportion of Jews (66 percent) and ethnic Belorussians (62 
percent) and by a significant proportion of ethnic Ukrainians 
(30 percent). Proportions of other nationalities naming Rus- 
sian as a native language ranged from 17 percent of ethnic Bul- 
garians to 3 percent of ethnic Romanians (urban Romanians 
were more Russianized than rural Romanians). Russian was 
claimed as a second language by a sizable proportion of all the 
nationalities: Romanians (46 percent), Ukrainians (43 per- 
cent), Gagauz (68 percent) , Jews (30 percent), Bulgarians (67 
percent), Belorussians (34 percent), Germans (53 percent), 
Roma (36 percent), and Poles (24 percent). 

On August 31, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of Moldavia passed 
the Law on State Language, which made Moldovan written in 
the Latin alphabet the state language of the Moldavian SSR. 
Because of pressure exerted by non-Romanian ethnic groups, 
Russian was retained as the language of interethnic communi- 
cation. In areas where non-Romanian ethnic groups were the 
majority, the language of that majority could also be used as a 
means of communication. Because of strong objections raised 
by the non-Romanian nationalities, implementation of the law 
was delayed. 



122 



Moldova 



The new Moldovan constitution, adopted August 27, 1994, 
designates Moldovan written in the Latin script as the official 
language, but provisions are made for Russian and other lan- 
guages to be used in areas of minority concentration. Russian is 
designated the language of interethnic communication. 

On April 27, 1995, President Snegur asked Parliament to 
change the name of the language in the constitution, from 
Moldovan to Romanian, in response to demonstrations and 
strikes led by students. According to Moldovan law, it would be 
six months before a proposed change to the constitution could 
be made. 

Religion 

Most of Moldova's population are Orthodox Christians. In 
1991 about 98.5 percent of the population belonged to this 
faith. 

The Soviet government strictly limited the activities of the 
Orthodox Church (and all religions) and at times sought to 
exploit it, with the ultimate goal of destroying it and all reli- 
gious activity. Most Orthodox churches and monasteries in 
Moldova were demolished or converted to other uses, such as 
warehouses, and clergy were sometimes punished for leading 
services. But many believers continued to practice their faith in 
secret. 

In 1991 Moldova had 853 Orthodox churches and eleven 
Orthodox monasteries (four for monks and seven for nuns). In 
addition, the Old Russian Orthodox Church (Old Believers — 
see Glossary) had fourteen churches and one monastery in 
Moldova. 

Before Soviet power was established in Moldova, the vast 
majority of ethnic Romanians belonged to the Romanian 
Orthodox Church (Bucharest Patriarchate), but today the Rus- 
sian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has jurisdiction 
in Moldova. Russian, Romanian, and Turkic (Gagauz) liturgies 
are used in the church. After the recent revival of religious 
activity, most of the clergy and the faithful wanted to return to 
the Bucharest Patriarchate but were prevented from doing so. 
Because higher-level church authorities were unable to resolve 
the matter, Moldova now has two episcopates, one for each 
patriarchate. In late 1992, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus- 
sia issued a decree upgrading the Eparchy of Chisinau and 
Moldova to a metropolitan see (for definition of eparchy — see 
Glossary) . 



123 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Moldova also has a Uniate minority, mainly among ethnic 
Ukrainians, although the Soviet government declared the Uni- 
ate Church (see Glossary) illegal in 1946 and forcibly united it 
with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Uniate Church sur- 
vived underground, however, outlasting the Soviet Union itself. 

Despite the Soviet government's suppression and ongoing 
harassment, Moldavia's Jews managed to retain their religious 
identity. About a dozen Jewish newspapers were started in the 
early 1990s, and religious leaders opened a synagogue in Chi- 
sinau; there were six Jewish communities of worship through- 
out the country. In addition, Moldova's government created 
the Department of Jewish Studies at Chisinau State University, 
mandated the opening of a Jewish high school in Chisinau, and 
introduced classes in Judaism in high schools in several cities. 
The government also provided financial support to the Society 
for Jewish Culture. 

Other religious denominations in Moldova are the Arme- 
nian Apostolic Church, Seventh-Day Adventists, Baptists, Pente- 
costals, and Molokans (a Russian Orthodox sect). 

Citizens in independent Moldova have much greater reli- 
gious freedom than they did under the Soviet regime. Legisla- 
tion passed in 1992 guaranteed religious freedom but did 
require that all religious groups be officially recognized by the 
government. In 1992 construction or restoration of 221 
churches was under way, but clergy remained in short supply. 

Culture 

Moldova's cultural tradition has been influenced primarily 
by the Romanian origin of its majority population and cannot 
be understood outside of the development of classical Roma- 
nian culture, in which it played a significant role. The roots of 
Romanian culture reach back to the second century A.D., the 
period of Roman colonization in Dacia. During the centuries 
following the Roman withdrawal in A.D. 271, the population of 
the region was influenced by contact with the Byzantine 
Empire, with neighboring Slavic and Magyar populations, and 
later with the Ottoman Turks. Beginning in the nineteenth 
century, a strong West European (particularly French) influ- 
ence was felt in Romanian literature and the arts. The resulting 
melange has produced a rich cultural tradition. Although for- 
eign contacts were an inevitable consequence of the region's 
geography, their influence only served to enhance a vital and 
resilient popular culture. 



124 



Moldova 



The regional population had come to identify itself widely 
as "Moldovan" by the fourteenth century but continued to 
maintain close cultural links with other Romanian groups. The 
eastern Moldovans, however, those inhabiting Bessarabia and 
Transnistria, were also influenced by Slavic culture from neigh- 
boring Ukraine. During the periods 1812-1917 and 1944-89, 
the eastern Moldovans were influenced by Russian and Soviet 
administrative control, as well and by ethnic Russian immigra- 
tion. 

Bessarabia was one of the least-developed and its population 
among the least-educated in the European regions of the Rus- 
sian Empire and later of the Soviet Union. In 1930 its literacy 
rate was only 40 percent, according to a Romanian census. 
Although Soviet authorities promoted education (not the least 
to spread communist ideology), they also did everything they 
could to break the region's cultural ties with Romania. With 
many ethnic Romanian intellectuals either fleeing, being 
killed, or being deported both during and after World War II, 
Bessarabia's cultural and educational situation worsened. 

To fill the gap, Soviet authorities developed urban cultural 
and scientific centers and institutions that were subsequently 
filled with Russians and with other non-Romanian ethnic 
groups, but this culture was superimposed and alien. Urban 
culture came from Moscow; the rural ethnic Romanian popula- 
tion was allowed to express itself only in folklore or folk art. 

Although the folk arts flourished, similarities with Roma- 
nian culture were hidden. Music and dance, particularly 
encouraged by Soviet authorities, were made into a showcase 
but were subtly distorted to hide their Romanian origins. An 
example is the national folk costume, in which the traditional 
Romanian moccasin {opined) was replaced by the Russian boot. 

Moldova's folk culture is extremely rich, and the ancient 
folk ballad known as the "Miorita" plays a central role in the 
traditional culture. Folk traditions, including ceramics and 
weaving, continue to be practiced in rural areas. The folk cul- 
ture tradition is promoted at the national level and is repre- 
sented by, among other groups, the republic's dance company, 
Joe, and by the folk choir, Doina. 

The first Moldovan books (religious texts) appeared in the 
first half of the seventeenth century. Prominent figures in 
Moldova's cultural development include prince and scholar 
Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), historian and philologist Bog- 



125 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

dan P. Hasdeu (1836-1907), author Ion Creanga (1837-89), 
and poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-89). 

Prominent modern writers include Vladimir Besleaga, Pavel 
Botu, Aureliu Busioc, Nicolae Dabija, Ion Druta, and Grigore 
Vieru. In 1991 a total of 520 books were published in Moldova, 
of which 402 were in Romanian, 108 in Russian, eight in 
Gagauz, and two in Bulgarian. 

In the early 1990s, Moldova had twelve professional the- 
aters. All performed in Romanian except the A.P. Chekhov 
Russian Drama Theater in Chisinau and the Russian Drama 
and Comedy Theater in Tiraspol, both of which performed 
solely in Russian, and the Licurici Republic Puppet Theater (in 
Chisinau), which performed in both Romanian and Russian. 
Members of ethnic minorities managed a number of folklore 
groups and amateur theaters throughout the country. 

Education, Health, and Welfare 
Education 

In the decades prior to independence, the Moldavian SSR's 
education system made substantial progress toward being avail- 
able to all citizens. At the beginning of the twentieth century, 
illiteracy had been common among Moldova's rural popula- 
tion. But by 1992, the adult literacy rate had risen to 96 per- 
cent. In 1990 the mean duration of schooling was six years, and 
30 percent of the population aged fifteen and older had com- 
pleted general secondary education. 

Under the Soviet education system, the Moldavian SSR had 
parallel systems of Romanian-language and Russian-language 
education through secondary school, although Russian was 
seen as the key to advancement. In 1990 a total of 614 pre- 
schools were taught in Romanian, 1,333 were taught in Rus- 
sian, and 373 were taught in both Romanian and Russian. 
There were 1,025 Romanian-language primary and secondary 
schools with 399,200 students; 420 Russian-language schools 
with 239,100 students; and 129 mixed-language schools with 
82,500 students studying in the Russian and Romanian lan- 
guages (more than half of the students studied in Russian). 
Change occurred slowly at the university level, however, and 55 
percent of students continued to study in the Russian language 
as of 1992. 

Under Moldova's education system, ten years of basic educa- 
tion are compulsory, followed by either technical school or fur- 



126 



Moldova 



ther study leading to higher education. In the early 1990s, the 
Moldovan government restored the Romanian language in 
schools and added courses in Romanian literature and history 
to the curriculum. The governments of Romania and Moldova 
established strong ties between their education systems; several 
thousand Moldovan students attended school in Romania, and 
the Romanian government donated textbooks to Moldova to 
replace books from the Soviet era. 

As Moldovan society became more industrialized and more 
complex under the Soviet regime, the role of higher education 
also expanded (although ethnic Russian and Ukrainian stu- 
dents were given preference in university admissions during 
the Soviet era). Although there were only ten students per 
10,000 population enrolled in institutions of higher education 
in 1940, this number increased to 120 per 10,000 population in 
1992. In early 1995, Moldova had ten institutions of higher 
education; four of these institutions had been established since 
independence. The republic also maintained institutes of agri- 
culture, economics, engineering, medicine, the arts, pedagogy, 
and physical education. 

Health 

Although the Soviet government had built health care facili- 
ties in the Moldavian SSR, modern equipment and facilities 
were in short supply in the early 1990s. In 1990 there were 129 
hospital beds and forty doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. The 
1991 state budget allocated approximately 12 percent of the 
total budget to health care, most of which was provided to citi- 
zens free of charge. 

The leading causes of death in Moldova are cardiovascular 
diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and accidents. Other 
major health problems are high levels of alcohol consumption 
and illnesses resulting from the extensive and indiscriminate 
use of herbicides and pesticides (see Environmental Concerns, 
this ch.). 

Welfare 

Although Moldavia's official standard of living had long 
been below the average for the Soviet Union, there were two 
mitigating factors. The rural character of the country 
accounted for many households receiving goods (mainly food) 
as well as cash wages. In addition, Moldavian industry was 
based on consumer goods (including textiles, consumer appli- 



127 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

ances, and processed agricultural goods), making them rela- 
tively plentiful throughout the republic (see table 10, Appen- 
dix A). 

The hostilities in Transnistria and the turmoil surrounding 
the demise of the Soviet Union were the major reasons for the 
falling standard of living in Moldova in the early 1990s. The 
outbreak of hostilities in Transnistria interrupted not only the 
flow of fuels and goods from former Soviet republics through 
Transnistria into right-bank Moldova but also cut off valuable 
inputs (for example, fertilizer) that were produced in Transnis- 
tria. These shortages of inputs, in turn, indirectly affected such 
indicators as food consumption, a sign that everyday life was 
affected (see table 11, Appendix A). 

In 1991 Moldova set up the Social Assistance Fund (to pro- 
vide assistance to the needy) and the Social Security Fund 
(SSF). The SSF is composed of the Pension Fund, the Social 
Insurance Fund, the Unemployment Fund, and the Reserve 
Fund. Funding for the SSF comes mainly from a payroll tax and 
from direct budget transfers. 

The Pension Fund provides old-age pensions (age fifty-five 
for women who have worked at least twenty years, and age sixty 
for men who have worked for twenty-five years), pensions for 
invalids, pensions for women who have raised three or more 
children, military and special merit pensions, and pensions for 
people of retirement age or for people who receive disability 
pensions yet continue to work. 

In early 1994, approximately 900,000 people (about 20 per- 
cent of the total population) received pensions. Legislation 
increased both benefits for dependent children and the mini- 
mum pension in 1992, and a law was passed to index benefits to 
inflation, but the law had not been fully implemented by the 
end of the year. Many felt that passage of this legislation would 
add significantly to the demands on an already overburdened 
budget. 

Housing 

Even before independence, much of Moldova's housing 
stock was in private hands because of the country's strong tradi- 
tion of private home ownership, especially in rural areas. In 
1994 some 90 percent of rural and 36 percent of urban apart- 
ments were held privately. 

At the time of Moldova's independence, housing construc- 
tion was hampered by severe shortages of building materials 



128 



Moldova 



and disruptions in deliveries. However, the housing stock con- 
tinued to expand in both rural and urban areas. In 1990 pri- 
vate builders accounted for only 26 percent of construction in 
urban areas but for 95 percent of construction in rural areas. 
In 1990 per capita housing space averaged eighteen square 
meters (fourteen square meters in urban areas and twenty-one 
square meters in rural areas). 

All state-owned housing was scheduled for privatization, in 
stages, beginning in May 1993 and using government-issued 
vouchers. Apartments that did not exceed state norms for per 
capita space utilization were to be turned over to their occu- 
pants free of charge. People living in apartments that exceeded 
space norms would have to pay the state a premium based on 
the average cost per square meter of housing construction. 
Privatization using vouchers was scheduled to be completed in 
the summer of 1995, at which time there would be an open 
housing market (see Postindependence Privatization and Oth- 
er Reforms, this ch.). 

The Economy 

Historically, the region now encompassed by the Republic 
of Moldova was poorly developed. Economic activity was princi- 
pally agricultural, rural poverty was endemic, and the urban 
economy, such as it was, was based almost entirely on com- 
merce, food processing, and the production of consumer 
goods. Development prior to the mid-eighteenth century 
lagged for a variety of reasons, but principally because of lim- 
ited resources and political instability. The region of Moldova 
was relatively backward in comparison with the rest of Roma- 
nia. 

The Economy in the Soviet Period 

Under Soviet rule, the Moldavian ASSR (1924-40) experi- 
enced considerable industrial development between the two 
world wars, particularly in and around Tiraspol, the site of new 
manufacturing activity. After World War II, substantial industri- 
alization occurred throughout the Moldavian SSR (1940-91), 
especially in Chisinau, but with a continuing focus on Transnis- 
tria as well. In addition to further developing the food-process- 
ing industry, the government introduced the textile, machine 
tool, and electronics industries (see fig. 19). 



129 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Soroca ' 
Camenca 



® 


National capital 


• 


Populated place 




Industry 




Textiles 


S 


Building materials 


Q 


Hydroelectric energy 


© 


Thermal energy 


4 


Grapes 


L 


Mixed livestock 


W 


Wheat 


G 


Grain and sugar beets 


F 


Fruit 


T 


Tobacco 





25 50 Kilometers 





25 50 Miles 



• Balti 

F 

Ungheni 



Ribnita , 

L 



6 

Chisinau 



Dubasari « 



WTiraspol 
o- Tighina • " 



Com rat < 



w 



-Vulcanesti 



Source: Based on information from Lerner Publications Company, Geography 
Department, Moldova, Minneapolis, 1993, 44. 

Figure 19. Economic Activity in Moldova, 1995 

Until independence, Moldavia's economy was organized 
along standard Soviet lines: all industry was state owned, as 
were commerce and finance. Approximately one-third of all 
enterprises (see Glossary) were subordinate to the economic 
ministries of the Soviet Union, and two-thirds were subordinate 
to republic-level authorities. Agriculture was collectivized, and 
production was organized principally around state farms (see 
Glossary) and collective farms (see Glossary). 



130 



Moldova 



The Moldavian economy, robust in the 1970s, slowed down 
somewhat in the early 1980s and contracted sharply in 1985, 
mainly as a result of declining activity in the wine sector, a casu- 
alty of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign. In the late 1980s, 
the economy briefly regained strength and grew faster than the 
economy of the Soviet Union as a whole. 

Postindependence Privatization and Other Reforms 

Once independence was achieved, Moldova's government 
undertook measures to begin privatization, which included 
passing a law mandating privatization and establishing the 
State Department for Privatization to direct the process. The 
overall reform policy was guided by the Draft Economic 
Reform Program of the Government of Moldova, a 1991 docu- 
ment calling for establishment of a market economy but per- 
mitting significant provisions for government intervention. 

In late 1992, the government presented Parliament with a 
more market-oriented policy in its Program of Activity of the 
Government of Moldova for 1992-1995. Its goal was to form a 
new social pact as a basis for a new society and economy for 
Moldova. The two-part program would first aim at stabilizing 
the country and then provide for the economy's recovery and 
growth by such means as agrarian and trade reform, social pro- 
tection, and a legal framework for a market economy. The 
direction of the new government was elaborated in the Pro- 
gram of Activity of the Government of the Republic of Moldova 
for 1994-1997, which was adopted by Parliament. The program 
focuses on restructuring the, economy, reorganizing enter- 
prises, privatizing small and medium-sized enterprises, promot- 
ing entrepreneurship, decreasing the budget deficit, 
implementing an efficient fiscal policy, and formulating new 
mechanisms to create a market economy. Another bill, the Pro- 
gram for Privatization for 1995-1996, was approved by Parlia- 
ment in March 1995. It focuses on foreign investment, pri- 
vatization of agricultural land, the introduction of cash auc- 
tions, mass privatization, and the development of capital mar- 
kets. More than 1,450 state enterprises are to be auctioned off. 

During 1992 enterprise privatization committees invento- 
ried assets at each enterprise in the republic; the aggregate 
result of this inventory became the basis of calculations of 
Moldova's total industrial wealth. Each citizen was to be pro- 
vided with patrimonial bonds (vouchers) in 1993, endowing 
him or her with a share of this total wealth based on years of 



131 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

employment in the economy. Citizens would receive one 
voucher point per year of work in the republic. Enterprise 
employees were to be allowed to purchase up to 30 percent of 
the value of their enterprises at nominal value. By special 
arrangement, 40 percent of the value of enterprises in the 
food-processing sector was to be allocated to suppliers. The 
program was to be completed by the summer of 1995. As of the 
beginning of 1995, Moldova had 4,400 state and 57,000 private 
enterprises. 

Employees of collective and state farms were also to be pro- 
vided with vouchers based on the length of their employment 
in the agricultural sector. In January 1992, Moldova expanded 
the amount of free land that eligible families would receive 
from state farms to 0.5 hectare per family, with an additional 
0.1 hectare to be added for fourth and subsequent family mem- 
bers up to a maximum of one hectare per family, on the condi- 
tion that it not be resold before 2001 (although it could be 
bequeathed) . 

Collective and state farms were to be converted into joint- 
stock companies first, and the land and property were to be 
allocated later. In 1993 Moldova had 481 small private farms; 
by 1995 this number had increased to 13,958. In 1995 about 1.5 
percent of agricultural land in Moldova was held by these small 
farmers. The reasons for slow privatization of the agricultural 
sector include slow privatization of large organizations, the use 
of outmoded production methods and equipment, poor 
accounting practices, and a shortage of processing facilities. 

At the same time that privatization plans were under way, 
actual reform efforts were halting and relatively ineffectual, 
and Moldova's economy declined. A number of factors contrib- 
uted to the decline, including the complicated political situa- 
tion in the republic (which had seen several changes of 
leadership in its first years of existence) and the political and 
military conflict with Transnistria. Substantial industrial capac- 
ity is located in Transnistria, and the disruption of traditional 
economic ties with enterprises there has had a negative effect 
on the economy of right-bank Moldova. 

Further, because Moldova's economy was firmly embedded 
in the broader economic structures of the former Soviet 
Union, it also suffered damage from the breakdown in interre- 
public trade, abrupt increases in external prices, and inflation 
resulting from the Russian government's policy of printing 
large amounts of money. (Moldova retained the Russian ruble 



132 



Moldova 



as its currency until November 1993.) The consequence of all 
these factors has been a substantial economic downturn in 
both industry and agriculture, accompanied by increased 
unemployment and a decline in labor productivity. In 1991 
Moldova's national income was only at 1985 levels. Moldova's 
industrial output in early 1995 was half that of 1990. Moldova's 
gross domestic product (GDP — see Glossary) declined by 30 
percent in 1994 (and by 5 percent in 1993 and 28 percent in 
1992), and its industrial output declined by 34 percent (and by 
12 percent in 1993 and 27 percent in 1992). 

Labor Force 

Moldova's labor force still reflects the structure of the econ- 
omy under communism. In 1991 about 78 percent of the popu- 
lation who were employed outside the home worked in the 
state sector, 19 percent worked on collective farms, and 3 per- 
cent worked in the private sector. The private sector employed 
9 percent of the workforce in 1995. In early 1995, the official 
unemployment rate was 1 percent, but experts put the real rate 
at between 10 and 15 percent. 

Agriculture 

At the time of Moldova's independence, agriculture contin- 
ued to play a major role in the country's economy, as it had 
during the Soviet period. In 1991 agriculture accounted for 42 
percent of the net material product (NMP—see Glossary) and 
employed 36 percent of the labor force (see fig. 20). 

The organizational backbone of independent Moldova's 
agriculture continues to be its system of former state and col- 
lective farms, one-quarter of which were transformed into 
joint-stock companies by 1994 and are now owned in shares by 
the people who work them. In 1993 Moldova's 600 collective 
farms covered 16.2 million hectares of land and employed 
401,300 persons; in the same year, its 389 state farms encom- 
passed 600,500 hectares of land and employed 168,200 per- 
sons. Agricultural output from private farms increased from 18 
percent in 1990 to 38 percent in 1994. 

Moldova possesses substantial agricultural resources; its cli- 
mate and fertile soils (1.7 million hectares of arable land in 
1991) support a wide range of crops. The country is an impor- 
tant regional producer of grapes and grape products, and its 
orchards produce significant amounts of fruit, including 
plums, apricots, cherries, and peaches. Fruit production is con- 



133 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



1991 NMP— 18.8 BILLION RUBLES 



TRADE AND CATERING 8% OTHER 1% 




Source: Based on information from International Monetary Fund, Moldova, 
Washington, 1993, 31. 

Figure 20. Net Material Product (NMP) of Moldova by Sector, 1991 

centrated in the north, in the central region, and in the Nistru 
River area. Tobacco is also an important commercial crop. 
Sugar beets are grown throughout the republic and provide 
raw material for a substantial (although antiquated) sugar- 
refining industry, and sunflowers are grown for their oil. Cereal 
crops, including wheat, are grown widely (corn is the leading 
grain) and are used for domestic consumption, export, and 
animal feed. 

Meat accounts for less than half of total agricultural produc- 
tion. In 1991 about half of total meat output was accounted for 
by pork (145,000 tons), followed by beef and veal (97,000 
tons), chicken (56,000 tons), and lamb (5,000 tons). From 
1990 to 1994, the amount of arable land used for livestock pro- 
duction decreased by some 25 percent; the number of livestock 
in 1994 was 400,000. 



134 



Moldova 



Probably the most widely known products of Moldova are its 
wines, sparkling wines, and brandies, which were recognized as 
among the finest in the former Soviet Union. In 1991 these 
accounted for 28 percent of the output of the food-processing 
sector, followed by meat processing with 22 percent of produc- 
tion, and fruit and vegetable processing (including the produc- 
tion of canned fruits and vegetables, jams, jellies, and fruit 
juices) with 15 percent. Moldova also produces sugar and sugar 
products, perfume, vegetable oils, and dairy products. 

Approximately half of Moldova's agricultural and food pro- 
duction is sold to former Soviet republics. Traditional markets 
are Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. 

Agricultural production has been in serious decline since 
the late 1980s, both in terms of overall production levels and in 
terms of per-hectare production of most crops (see table 12, 
Appendix A). Overall agricultural output in 1991 was at 1970 
levels. A number of factors contributed to the decline, includ- 
ing difficulties in providing necessary inputs and agricultural 
machinery, disruption of the transportation system, failures in 
the incentive system, difficulties related to political instability 
in Transnistria, Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign, and, not 
the least, Moldova's variable weather. In 1990 a drought 
resulted in a serious decline in production. On the heels of the 
drought, 1991 saw a spring freeze, severe summer flooding, 
and then the worst drought in some fifty years. Overall agricul- 
tural output in 1993 was down 15 percent from the previous 
year; grain production, one-third less than in 1991, was particu- 
larly affected (especially corn, which was down over 50 percent 
on average). The trend continued into 1994, when drought 
and storms with hurricane-force winds caused agricultural out- 
put to decline 58 percent from 1993 levels. Although Moldova 
was traditionally a wheat exporter, it had to import 100,000 to 
200,000 tons of wheat as a result of a 1994 harvest that was 
800,000 tons less than the harvest of 1993. 

In fiscal year (FY — see Glossary) 1992, Moldova participated 
in the United States Department of Agriculture's P.L. 480 Title 
I program, which provided US$7 million in long-term credit 
for government-to-government concessional sales, offered 
repayment terms of ten to thirty years (with grace periods of up 
to seven years), and provided low interest rates. Moldova's line 
of credit was scheduled to increase to US$10 million in 1993. 

By the beginning of 1994, total United States assistance to 
Moldova included approximately US$12 million in technical 



135 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

assistance in support of Moldova's transition to a market econ- 
omy and democracy and US$68 million in humanitarian assis- 
tance. In 1995 the United States was scheduled to provide 
US$22 million in technical assistance for economic restructur- 
ing and privatization. This amount brings total United States 
assistance to Moldova since 1992 to more than US$200 million. 

Industry 

In 1991 industry accounted for approximately 38 percent of 
NMP and employed 21 percent of the work force. Some of the 
main products of Moldova's industry include electrical motors 
and equipment, pumps for industrial and agricultural use, and 
agricultural equipment, including tractors and automobile 
parts. There is also a small chemical industry, which produces 
plastics, synthetic fibers, paint, and varnish, and a construction 
industry, which produces cement and prefabricated rein- 
forced-concrete structures. 

The Moldovan consumer goods industry in the early 1990s 
was faced with the same problems affecting the rest of the 
Moldovan economy. The supply of cheap fuels and raw materi- 
als, provided to Moldavia under the Soviet economic system 
(under which Moldavia specialized in consumer goods and 
agricultural products), dried up with the demise of the Soviet 
Union and the hostilities in Transnistria. Together with high 
inflation, the cost of goods went up tremendously, sometimes 
doubling in the course of one year. 

In 1991 consumer goods accounted for 22 percent of Mol- 
dova's industrial output; the textile industry accounted for 
approximately 50 percent of this, and food processing 
accounted for 40 percent. Clothing manufacturing made up 
another 29 percent of total production. 

In 1994 Moldova had eleven enterprises producing military 
goods. Attempts were being made to convert ten of them to 
civilian production. However, these facilities were operating at 
only 15 to 20 percent of capacity, as compared with the indus- 
try-wide average of 40 percent of capacity. As a result, conver- 
sion prospects were not bright. 

Moldova's heavy industry is almost entirely the result of 
development during the Soviet period. Machine building pre- 
dominates within heavy industry, accounting for 16 percent of 
total industrial production. 



136 



Sunday afternoon flower market, Chisinau 
Courtesy Tom Skipper 
Private housing under construction, Stauceni 
Courtesy Charles King 



137 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Energy and Fuels 

Among the most pressing difficulties facing the republic's 
economy is a near total lack of energy resources. Moldova's 
own primary energy sources consist of small hydroelectric 
power plants on the Nistru River at Dubasari and Camenca 
(Kamenka in Russian); minor thermal electric power plants at 
Balti, Ribnita (Rybnitsa in Russian), Ungheni (Ungeny in Rus- 
sian), and Chisinau; and firewood, all of which combine to 
meet only 1 percent of domestic needs. A coal-fired power 
plant was under construction at Cuciurgan (Kuchurgan in Rus- 
sian), in Transnistria, in 1995. 

Another source of problems is the fact that almost 90 per- 
cent of power and 100 percent of power transformers are pro- 
duced in politically troubled Transnistria. In addition, 
Transnistria's adversarial "government" has frequently dis- 
rupted the flow of fuels into Moldova from Russia and Ukraine. 

Moldova has an electric-power production capacity of 3.1 
million kilowatts, and it produced 11.1 billion kilowatt-hours of 
electricity in 1993. By 1994 electricity production had de- 
creased 14 percent in comparison with 1993. Over the same 
period, thermal electric production decreased 22 percent. 

Despite its lack of energy resources, the country continues 
to export some of the electricity it generates to Romania and 
Bulgaria. However, these exports have been cut back (the 
countries receive electricity only to the extent to which they 
supply fuel). Some electricity shortages have occurred in Mol- 
dova, mostly in winter, and have been dealt with by rationing. 
Much of the country's generating equipment (which is not pro- 
duced by Moldova) and approximately one-quarter of its trans- 
mission and distribution lines are in need of repair. 

In the early 1990s, energy shortages were prevalent, and 
energy availability was sporadic, leading to disruptions in eco- 
nomic activity. Imports of coal, natural gas, diesel fuel, and gas- 
oline declined by an estimated average of 40 percent from 
1991 to 1992. In 1994 the picture was somewhat different. Gas- 
oline imports were up 33.6 percent, and coal imports increased 
15.4 percent, while imports of diesel fuel, mazut, and natural 
gas fell 25 percent, 51.5 percent, and 3.1 percent, respectively. 

In 1994 Moldova was dependent on Russia for 90 percent of 
the fuel needed for its electric-power generation plants: diesel 
oil (88,000 tons), gasoline (65,000 tons), fuel oil (365,000 
tons), and natural gas (2.8 billion cubic meters). By March 



138 



Moldova 



1995, Moldova owed Russia US$232 million for fuel, with half 
of this amount owed by the "Dnestr Republic." 

Moldova had started paying off this debt in goods, including 
agricultural products, but beginning in late 1994 the govern- 
ment instead gave Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled gas 
company, equity stakes in key Moldovan enterprises. In January 
1995, Moldova gave control of Moldovagas, the state-owned gas 
company, to Gazprom. 

Banking and Finance 

Moldova's banking system, part of the Soviet system during 
the communist era, underwent major changes in 1991. The 
National Bank of Moldova (NBM), established in June 1991 
and modeled on the Bank of Romania, is subordinate to Parlia- 
ment. It has an extensive set of monetary policy instruments 
(such as maximum lending rates and reserve requirements) 
and is legally responsible for bank supervision. However, short- 
ages of trained staff and a lack of experience in making and 
executing monetary policy caused the NBM difficulties in its 
early years. 

In 1995 Moldova's banking system was composed of the 
NBM and twenty-six private, joint-stock commercial banks, 
including the Joint Bank for Export and Import (Banca Mixta 
Pentru Export si Import). In 1995 the largest commercial 
banks were Moldindconbanc, Banca de Economii, Banca 
Sociala, Agroindbanc, Victoriabanc, and Interprinzbanca. The 
banking system also includes four branches of foreign (Roma- 
nian and Russian) banks. 

After Russia enacted economic reform measures in January 
1992, Moldova liberalized prices for most of its commodities 
(except bread, milk, energy, utilities, and transportation) and 
raised other prices by 200 to 425 percent. Price controls were 
eliminated gradually, with none left after May 1994. 

In early 1995, the average monthly rate of consumer infla- 
tion was estimated at under 5 percent. This represented a 
major improvement, as the annual inflation rate had been 105 
percent in 1994, 415 percent in 1993, and a staggering 1,500 
percent in 1992. 

In the early years of its independence, Moldova used both 
the Russian ruble and the Moldovan coupon (issued only to 
residents of Moldova) as its currencies. The leu (for value of 
the leu — see Glossary) was introduced in November 1993 to 
replace these currencies and to escape the inflation in other 



139 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

former Soviet republics. It has remained reasonably stable 
against major hard currencies despite the country's high rates 
of inflation. 

Transportation and Telecommunications 

In 1995 the main means of transportation in Moldova were 
railroads (1,150 kilometers) and a highway system (20,100 kilo- 
meters overall, including 14,000 kilometers of paved surfaces) 
(see fig. 21). The major railroad junctions are Chisinau, 
Tighina, Ungheni, Ocnita (Oknitsa in Russian), Balti, and 
Basarabeasca (Bessarabka in Russian). Primary external rail 
links connect the republic's network with Odesa (in Ukraine) 
on the Black Sea and with the Romanian cities of Iasi and 
Galati; they also lead northward into Ukraine. Highways link 
Moldova's main cides and provide the chief means of transpor- 
tation within the country, but roads are in poor repair, and gas- 
oline shortages make interurban motor transportation 
difficult. The country's major airport is in Chisinau. 

Shipping is possible on the lower Prut and Nistru rivers, but 
water transportation plays only a modest role in the country's 
transportation system. In 1990 a total of 317 million ton-kilo- 
meters of freight were carried on inland waterways as com- 
pared with 15,007 million ton-kilometers on railroads and 
1,673 million ton-kilometers on roads (see table 13, Appendix 
A). 

The movement of manufactured goods and of passengers 
on all means of transportation started to decline in 1989. From 

1993 to 1994, for example, the total amount of transported 
goods fell by 31 percent, passenger traffic decreased by 28 per- 
cent, and the number of passengers declined by 24 percent. 
The main causes for these declines are the high cost of trans- 
portation, a lack of fuels, and the poor state of Moldova's trans- 
portation infrastructure: approximately 20 percent of Mol- 
dova's roads are considered in a critical state. 

Moldova's telecommunications facilities are poor, but they 
were being upgraded in 1995. In 1990 Moldova had an average 
of twelve telephones per 100 inhabitants (heavily concentrated 
in urban areas), and there were more than 200,000 unfilled 
orders for telephone installation. In 1994 Moldova installed 
23,800 telephone lines, which included public telephones with 
direct international dialing capabilities. Some 10,000 digital 
lines in Chisinau were upgraded by a German company In 

1994 a new company in Chisinau, a joint venture with partners 



140 



Moldova 



from Greece and Italy, was soon to produce automatic tele- 
phone exchanges at the rate of 50,000 lines a year. 

Moldova is connected to Ukraine by landline and to coun- 
tries outside the former Soviet Union via Bucharest rather than 
via the switching center in Moscow, as was previously the case. 

As of 1993, three television channels were widely available in 
Moldova: Moldova's two national channels (Radioteleviziunea 
Nationala), Romanian state television (Televiziunea Romana), 
and Russian state television (Ostankino Television Channel 1). 
Radioteleviziunea Nationala's daily fifteen hours of broadcast- 
ing included five hours of Russian-language broadcasts. Broad- 
casting in other minority languages was more limited: 
Ukrainian (three hours per month), Gagauz (three hours per 
month), Bulgarian (three hours per month), and Hebrew and 
Yiddish (1.5 hours per month). Televiziunea Romana broad- 
cast fifteen hours per day, and Ostankino Television broadcast 
nineteen hours per day. In 1995 there was one private televi- 
sion station in Chisinau (whose coverage included most of the 
republic) . 

In 1994 nine AM radio stations were reported broadcasting, 
in four cities: four in Grigoriopol (Grigoriopol' in Russian), 
three in Chisinau, one in Cahul (Kagul in Russian), and one in 
Edinet (Yedintsy in Russian). Separatists in the self-proclaimed 
"Dnestr Republic" had taken over the radio facility in Grigori- 
opol and broadcast on two of the AM frequencies. The cities of 
Balti, Cahul, Edinet, Straseni (Strasheny in Russian), and Un- 
gheni each had one FM radio station broadcasting on the same 
frequencies used when Moldova was part of the Soviet Union. 
International shortwave radio service was broadcast in English, 
Russian, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Four private radio 
stations operated in Moldova in 1994, one of which was funded 
by an American Christian group. The others broadcast music, 
mostly for young people. 

Foreign Trade 

Within the Soviet economy, Moldavia was an importer of 
industrial raw materials, fossil fuels, and manufactured goods. 
Its primary exports to other Soviet republics included wine and 
spirits, processed foods, clothing and textiles, and small 
amounts of electrical equipment. 

Since independence, Moldova has struggled to reorganize 
its domestic economy and at the same time to reorient its for- 
eign trade, finding new markets for its products and new 



141 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 




sources of the essential imports it traditionally obtained from 
the Soviet Union. In 1991, however, 73 percent of Moldova's 
imports and 96 percent of its exports were still directed toward 
territories of the former Soviet Union. In addition, Moldova 
had a surplus of 572 million rubles in its trade with the former 
Soviet republics but a deficit of 875 million rubles in its trade 
with the rest of the world. This disparity clearly suggested the 
difficulty Moldova faced in restructuring its trade relationships, 
given that in 1994 about 73 percent of Moldova's foreign trade 
was with other members of the CIS and only 27 percent was 



142 



Moldova 



with the West. In 1994 exports totaled 2,39V million lei 
(US$580 million), up 20 percent from 1993, and imports 
totaled 2,704 million lei (US$662 million), down 12 percent 
from 1993, resulting in a trade deficit of 307 million lei. 

By 1992 Moldova had established joint ventures with Bul- 
garia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Vietnam, 
and the United States, and it had signed bilateral trade agree- 
ments with China, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Swe- 
den, Serbia and Montenegro, and ten of the former Soviet 
republics. In 1995 Moldova's major CIS trading partners were 
Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and its major non-CIS trading 
partners were Romania, Germany, the United States, Bulgaria, 
Hungary, and Italy. Barter accounted for over 41 percent of 
Moldova's total volume of foreign trade in 1994. 

By the end of 1992, the United States government had 
signed several agreements with Moldova and had granted 
Moldova most-favored-nation status (see Glossary). A bilateral 
investment treaty was signed with the Moldovan government in 
April 1993. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation 
(OPIC) had signed a bilateral agreement with Moldova autho- 
rizing OPIC to provide loans, loan guarantees, and investment 
insurance to United States companies investing in Moldova. As 
of September 1994, 314 joint ventures had been established 
(partners included more than fifty from Romania, more than 
thirty from the United States, twenty-five from Germany, and 
twenty from Bulgaria), but only one-third were operational as 
of early 1995. Joint ventures account for only 2.3 percent of 
Moldova's industrial output and substantially less than 1 per- 
cent of Moldova's employment. 

In 1992 Moldova became a member of the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF — see Glossary) and the World Bank (see 
Glossary), making it eligible to receive financing for capital 
infrastructure projects. (The Moldovan government consulted 
with the IMF on a plan of economic reform that year and 
immediately implemented a number of reform measures.) 
Moldova and United States companies investing in Moldova 
are also eligible to receive loans from the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which emphasizes 
programs and activities that support privatization, financial 
reform, industrial restructuring, the creation and strengthen- 
ing of infrastructure, inflows of foreign investment, and envi- 
ronmental remediation. In addition, the Moldovan gov- 
ernment has signed the Group of Seven (see Glossary) exter- 



143 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

nal debt agreement; its share of the external debt of the 
former Soviet Union was determined to be US$1.7 billion. An 
agreement was signed in 1993 by Moldova and Russia transfer- 
ring this debt to Russia and renouncing any claims by Moldova 
on properties of the former Soviet Union. In November 1994, 
Moldova signed a partnership and cooperation agreement with 
the European Union (EU — see Glossary). 

In 1992 the Moldovan Parliament adopted the Law on For- 
eign Investment (amended in July 1994). This law was devel- 
oped in cooperation with representatives of foreign enterprises 
and the World Bank and is recognized as the best of all such 
laws in countries belonging to the CIS. Together with changes 
in the tax law, the Law on Foreign Investment has made Mol- 
dova a much easier place for foreign companies to do business. 

By 1995 the government of Moldova had relaxed most of its 
restrictions on the country's foreign trade. Importers and 
exporters no longer need to be registered, but export licenses 
are still needed for certain goods, such as grains, energy 
resources, animal hides, and special products (including arms, 
precious metals, and chemical products). 

Government and Politics 

On August 27, 1991, the Republic of Moldova declared its 
independence from the Soviet Union and became a sovereign 
state, an act that consummated the process of escalating politi- 
cal self-assertion under way since 1988. Behind this phenome- 
non were glasnost and perestroika, the general movement toward 
reform initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of 
the 1980s. 

Gorbachev's more permissive approach to political life in 
the Moldavian SSR enabled Moldovan nationalists to partici- 
pate in the campaign for election to the Soviet Union's Con- 
gress of People's Deputies (see Glossary) in 1989 and to form 
the Moldovan Popular Front. On February 25, 1990, the first 
democratic elections for the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian 
SSR resulted in a Popular Front majority. 

In May 1991, the country changed its name from the Soviet 
Socialist Republic of Moldova to the Republic of Moldova. The 
name of the Supreme Soviet was changed to the Moldovan Par- 
liament. It declared Moldova's complete independence on 
August 2V, 1991 (now Independence Day). This pursuit of 
independence by Moldova's government put it increasingly at 
odds with Moscow and at the same time led to growing tensions 



144 



Moldova 



between the ethnic Romanian majority and the non-Romanian 
minorities in the republic. 

Those tensions led to sporadic violence throughout the first 
half of 1992, until a cease-fire agreement was negotiated by 
presidents Snegur and Yeltsin in July. The conditions for with- 
drawing the Russian 14th Army were negotiated and were 
dependent on constitutional provisions that were to be made 
after the parliamentary elections of early 1994. 

On February 27, 1994, parliamentary elections were held. 
In the elections, the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova 
won a majority, marking a turning point for Moldovan politics. 
The new Parliament was able to make compromises between 
ethnic Romanians and ethnic Slavs, thus enabling it to pass leg- 
islation and set a more moderate tone for governing the coun- 
try. Without a majority of Popular Front extreme nationalists in 
Parliament, a solution to the problem of Transnistria began to 
be more than just a futile hope. 

Governmental System 

On July 28, 1994, the Moldovan Parliament approved a new 
constitution, which went into effect August 27, 1994. Moldova's 
previous constitution was that of the old Moldavian SSR 
(1979), with amendments. The new document defines Mol- 
dova as an independent, democratic, "single" state and 
declares the country's permanent neutrality. The Moldovan 
language written in the Latin alphabet is designated as the offi- 
cial language, but guarantees are made for the use of Russian 
and other languages. The new constitution includes a ban on 
the stationing of foreign troops on Moldova's territory. 

Parliament 

Moldova is a democracy with a unicameral legislature, the 
Moldovan Parliament (see fig. 22). Following the earlier Soviet 
model, called the Supreme Soviet, the Moldovan Parliament 
maintains a Presidium, which performs legislative functions 
when the larger body is not in session. Parliament has 104 
members elected by universal suffrage for a four-year term. Any 
citizen eligible to vote (eighteen years of age and not prohib- 
ited by law) is eligible for election to Parliament. The next par- 
liamentary elections will be held in 1998. 

Parliament ordinarily meets in two sessions per year. The 
first session starts in February and may not go beyond the end 



145 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



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146 



Moldova 



of July. The second session starts in September and may not go 
beyond the end of December. 

Parliamentary leadership consists of a chairman and two 
deputy chairmen elected by the delegates. The work of Parlia- 
ment is carried out by fifteen permanent committees, which 
have purview in the following areas: agriculture and rural 
social development, crime prevention, culture and religion, 
ecology, the economy and the budget, foreign affairs, health 
and social assistance, human rights and relations among 
nationalities, law, legislative ethics, local administration and the 
local economy, public relations and the mass media, science 
and education, state security and military affairs, and women 
and family issues. 

The Presidency 

Moldova's head of state is the president of the republic, who 
shares executive power with the Council of Ministers. Under 
constitutional arrangements prevailing at the time of the 1990 
national elections, the president was elected by members of the 
Supreme Soviet, but provisions introduced in 1991 called for 
the president's direct election by all members of the popula- 
tion over eighteen years of age. The president, who must be 
over thirty-five years old, a resident of Moldova for at least ten 
years, and a speaker of the state language, is elected to a four- 
year term of office. The next election is set for December 1995. 
In mid-1995 the president was Mircea Snegur, named president 
by the Supreme Soviet in September 1990 and confirmed by 
popular election in December 1991. 

The president's duties include nominating the prime minis- 
ter and members of the Council of Ministers, taking part in 
Parliament's proceedings and debates, dissolving Parliament 
under certain conditions, negotiating and concluding interna- 
tional treaties, serving as commander in chief of the armed 
forces, granting political asylum, and iniating national referen- 
dums. 

Council of Ministers 

The activities of the government are directed by the cabinet, 
or Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister and the 
first deputy prime minister. In mid-1995 the prime minister was 
Andrei Sangheli, appointed in July 1992 and reappointed in 
March 1994. Candidates for the Council of Ministers are nomi- 
nated by the president (on the prime minister's recommenda- 



147 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

tion) and must be confirmed by Parliament before taking 
office. In 1995 there were eighteen ministries: agriculture and 
food; commercial services and housing; culture; defense; econ- 
omy; education; finance; foreign affairs; health; industry; infor- 
mation and communication; interior; justice; labor and social 
and family protection; national security; parliamentary rela- 
tions; privatization and administration of state property; and 
transportation and road assistance. 

In addition to these ministries, the government has state 
departments subordinate to the Council of Ministers. In 1995 
there were nine state departments: architecture and construc- 
tion; customs control; energy, energy resources, and fuel; envi- 
ronmental protection; national relations; standards, metrology, 
and technical assistance; statistics; trade; and youth and sports. 

The Judicial System 

Independent Moldova's judicial and legal systems are carry- 
overs from the Soviet period and conform to practices that 
were standard throughout the former Soviet Union. The most 
powerful legal institution is the General Prosecution Office, 
formerly called the Procuracy (see Glossary). Headed by the 
prosecutor general, the General Prosecution Office directs 
investigations, orders arrests, and prosecutes criminal cases. It 
is also charged with administering the judicial system and 
ensuring the legality of government actions. In the early 1990s, 
the Procuracy's corruption and political ties to the Communist 
Party of Moldavia made it the subject of substantial controversy 
in discussions on constitutional reform. A significant element 
of political opinion advocated the abolition or radical transfor- 
mation of the Procuracy. 

Moldova's judicial system is based on a network of local 
courts and higher-level appeals courts, with the highest court 
being the Supreme Court (Curte Suprema). Judges do not 
have a tradition of political impartiality and independence, 
and the role of defense attorneys is limited. The government of 
Moldova has initiated reform efforts, but corruption and a lack 
of organization continue to plague the legal system. Many 
former Soviet-era judges and chief prosecutors were replaced 
in 1990 and 1991 during a parliamentary review, but an inde- 
pendent judiciary was still not realized. The system was being 
reviewed in 1995. 



148 



Moldova 



Local Government 

Below the central government, Moldova is divided adminis- 
tratively into forty raioane (sing., raion; rayow// rayon in Russian; 
see Glossary), as in the Soviet period (see fig. 23). Each raion is 
governed by a locally elected council. Raion councils elect exec- 
utive committees from among their members. The heads of 
these executive committees are the chief executive officers of 
the raioane. City and village governments are organized much 
like the raion-level governments. In addition to the raioane, Chi- 
sinau (the national capital), Balti, Tighina, and Tiraspol are 
designated municipalities and are directly subordinate to the 
national government. 

In 1991 the national government began work on an admin- 
istrative reorganization intended to alter this structure and to 
reintroduce a system of counties (Judete), communes, and vil- 
lages similar to the one that had been in effect during the 
interwar period, and one that was still in use in Romania. 
Under the new system, the counties would consolidate func- 
tions carried out by the smaller raioane, and local executives 
would be elected directly. However, this effort was stalled by the 
secession of Transnistria and the declaration of sovereignty by 
the Gagauz region, and the Parliament elected in 1994 put the 
matter aside. 

Political Parties 

In 1993 more than twenty political parties and movements 
were registered in Moldova. Until 1990 the Communist Party of 
Moldavia (CPM) was the dominant political force in the repub- 
lic. It had controlled the administrative, economic, and cul- 
tural affairs of the Moldavian SSR from its establishment until 

1990. During that period, CPM officials monopolized virtually 
all politically significant government positions. However, once 
democratic elections were decided upon, the party's power dis- 
integrated swiftly. The CPM was formally banned in August 

1991, following the abortive August coup d'etat against Soviet 
president Gorbachev, but former communists continued to 
participate actively in politics through their membership in a 
variety of successor organizations. The CPM was revived as the 
Moldovan Party of Communists in 1994, 

In the wake of the 1990 elections, the Moldovan Popular 
Front, founded in 1989 and consisting of an association of 
independent cultural and political groups, moved into a com- 
manding position in the country's political life. It emerged as 



149 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Boundary representation 
not necessa rily authoritative 



International boundary 

Raion or municipality 

boundary 
® National capital 
® Raion center or municipality 
NOTE — Raioane have the 

same names as their 
administrative centers. 

25 50 Kilometers 



Raion Centers 

Anenii Noi (29) 
Basarabeasca (40) 
Briceni (1) 
Cahul (41) 
Cainari (32) 
Calaras (19) 
Camenca (11) 
Cantemir (38) 
Causeni (33) 
Ciadir-Lunga (43) 
Cimislia (31) 
Comrat (39) 
Criuleni (24) 
Donduseni (4) 
Drochia (6) 
Dubasari (21) 
Edinet (3) 
Falesti (13) 
Floresti (10) 
Glodeni (8) 
Grigoriopol (25) 
Hincesti (26) 
laloveni (27) 




Leova (30) 
Nisporeni (22) 
Ocnita (2) 
Orhei (20) 
Rezina (16) 
Ribnita (17) 
Riscani (5) 
Singerei (14) 
Slobozia (36) 
Soldanesti (12) 
Soroca (7) 
Stefan Voda (37) 
Straseni (23) 
Taraclia (42) 
Telenesti (15) 
Ungheni (18) 
Vulcanesti (44) 

Municipalities 

BaltJ (9) 
Chisinau (28) 
Tighina 

(Bendery) (35) 
Tiraspol (34) 



44 * 



Sea 



Source: Based on information from Soviet Union, Ministerstvo geologii i okhrany nedr 
SSSR, "Po Moldavii, turistskaya karta," Moscow, 1989. 

Figure 23. Administrative Divisions of Moldova, 1995 

an advocate of increased autonomy from the Soviet Union and 
of the rights of the Moldavian SSR's ethnic Romanian popula- 
tion. Popular Front delegates were able to dominate proceed- 
ings in the Supreme Soviet and to select a government made 
up of individuals who supported its agenda. The Popular Front 
was well organized nationally, with its strongest support in the 
capital and in areas of the country most heavily populated by 
ethnic Romanians. Once the organization was in power, how- 



150 



Moldova 



ever, internal disputes led to a sharp fall in popular support, 
and it fragmented into several competing factions by early 
1993. In February 1993, the Popular Front was re-formed as 
the Christian Democratic Popular Front (CDPF). 

Several other parties, primarily composed of ethnic Roma- 
nians, were organized after 1990. The largest and most influen- 
tial of these ethnically based parties is the Democratic Agrarian 
Party of Moldova, which is a coalition of former communists 
and moderate-to-status-quo supporters of Moldovan statehood 
and closer economic ties with Russia. The party's support 
comes mainly from the rural populace, economic conserva- 
tives, and ethnic minorities opposed to reunification with 
Romania. The Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova won a 
majority of the votes in the 1994 parliamentary election. 

A much smaller but still influential political group is the 
Social Democratic Party of Moldova. Most of the Social Demo- 
crats' leaders originally participated in the Popular Front but 
later formed their own organization in response to what they 
perceived as the increasingly nationalistic position of that party. 
The Social Democrats are multiethnic, and their constituency 
consists mainly of educated professional and managerial 
groups. Their support is strongest in the republic's capital. 

Another independent formation committed to promoting a 
less nationalistic agenda for the republic, the Democratic Party 
for the Rebirth and Prosperity of Moldova, was formed in late 
1990. The party draws its support primarily from among ethnic 
Romanian intellectuals and is active primarily in the capital. 

At the other extreme of the political spectrum is the 
National Christian Party (NCP). The NCP is more expressly 
nationalistic than the Popular Front and its other competi- 
tors — the Congress of the Intellectuals (which is a component 
of the Congress of Peasants and Intellectuals, a bloc in the 1994 
elections), the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Labor 
Party — and it campaigned openly for reunification with Roma- 
nia during the 1994 elections. Other parties active in the 1994 
campaign for Parliament were the Reform Party, the Yedin- 
stvo/Socialist Bloc, the Republican Party, the Democratic 
Labor Party, the Green Alliance, the Women's Association of 
Moldova, and the Victims of Totalitarian Repression. 

In late 1993, former Prime Minister Valeriu Muravschi, 
along with several other leading members of Parliament 
unhappy with the direction of policy under the existing govern- 
ment, formed yet another party, the Socialist Workers' Party, in 



151 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

order to counter what they saw as the excessively conservative 
influence of the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova. Non- 
Romanian ethnic communities have also formed political orga- 
nizations representing their interests. In the early transition 
period, the most influential of these was the Yedinstvo-Unitatea 
Intermovement. Yedinstvo, whose members include not only 
Russians but also Ukrainians, Bulgarians, and other Russian- 
speaking residents of the republic, is politically conservative in 
its support of the pre-1990 status quo. Based primarily in Trans- 
nistria, it is strongly pro-Russian. In Parliament, its positions are 
represented by the Conciliere legislative club. 

Yedinstvo emerged in 1988 from the mobilization of Rus- 
sian-speaking workers responding to efforts to alter the repub- 
lic's language laws and demote the status of the Russian 
language. During the transition period, Yedinstvo was the most 
effective and influential minority nationalist organization. Its 
representatives walked out of the first session of the democrati- 
cally elected Moldavian Supreme Soviet in 1990. In local elec- 
tions, its adherents won control over local and raion govern- 
ments throughout Transnistria. 

Gagauz Halki (Gagauz People) is a second pivotal minority 
political group, formed to represent Moldova's population of 
approximately 153,000 Gagauz. Like the Russian-speaking 
community in Transnistria, with whom they had been close 
political allies, Gagauz nationalists gained control over local 
government (in five raioane in the south), where their numbers 
continue to be concentrated. Like the Transnistrians, the 
Gagauz declared themselves sovereign in 1990. 

The 1 990 Elections 

The first democratic elections for the Supreme Soviet were 
held in February and March 1990. Delegates were elected for 
terms of four years in 380 single-member electoral districts (by 
early 1993 this number had decreased to 332 following remov- 
als and resignations) . Electoral rules called for candidates to be 
nominated by electoral districts rather than by "social organiza- 
tions," as had been the practice previously. Meetings of work 
collectives of 100 persons and residents' meetings of fifty or 
more persons were empowered to nominate candidates. 

In order to be elected, candidates had to receive more than 
50 percent of the votes cast in an electoral district. When there 
was no victor in the first round of elections, the two candidates 



152 



Statue of Stephen the Great 
(1457-1504), the 
Moldovan king who fought 
the Ottoman Empire 
Courtesy 
PaulE. Michelson 



Newly renovated Ciuflea 
Orthodox church, Chisinau 
Courtesy 
Ernest H. Latham, Jr. 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

with the highest number of votes competed against each other 
in a second round. 

In 1990 the republic was divided by the secession of separat- 
ist regions and by the outbreak of widespread fighting in Trans- 
nistria. At the same time, economic crisis loomed, a result of 
the collapse of the economic institutions of the Soviet Union. 
The Moldovan government pursued reforms to address this cri- 
sis, but progress toward a market economy was slow, partly as a 
result of the government's preoccupation with the conflicts 
among the ethnic groups and partly because of resistance to 
reform on the part of those with vested interests in the commu- 
nist system. 

In contrast to the artificial quiescence that characterized 
previous contests, the 1990 elections had considerable contro- 
versy. While national CPM officials, including then-First Secre- 
tary Petru Lucinschi, promoted open access to the political 
process, local communist officials in many areas used tradi- 
tional means to retain power. Reformers complained that local 
electoral commissions were controlled by "enemies of restruc- 
turing" and that the administrative apparatus was being used to 
subvert the nominating process. 

Just as important as bureaucratic resistance in determining 
the outcome of the elections, however, was the Popular Front's 
organizational weakness in many localities outside the capital, 
especially in comparison with the local strength of the CPM's 
rural party apparatus. Despite these difficulties, Popular Front- 
approved candidates were on the ballot in 219 out of Moldova's 
380 electoral districts by the February 25 election date. Mean- 
while, the CPM, enjoying a rebound in popularity and effec- 
tiveness under Lucinschi's direction, accounted for 86 percent 
of all candidates. 

A high degree of cooperation between the Popular Front 
and reformers within the CPM hierarchy was also evident dur- 
ing the early transition period. On February 11, 1990, the Pop- 
ular Front, with the support of government authorities, had 
organized a "Republic's Voters Meeting" in Chisinau. This was 
attended by more than 100,000 people and was addressed by 
Lucinschi and other high-level communist officials. 

Among the candidates supported by the Popular Front were 
ranking CPM members such as Mircea Snegur. A Central Com- 
mittee secretary since 1985, Snegur was appointed chairman of 
the Presidium of the Moldavian Supreme Soviet by the 
staunchly antireform CPM leader Simion Grossu in July 1989. 



154 



Moldova 



By early 1990, however, Snegur had realigned himself with the 
Popular Front and its political program. 

The results of the first round of elections in February con- 
firmed the main trends that had appeared during the nominat- 
ing process. Competitive races were held in 373 of the 380 
districts, and turnout was 84 percent of the electorate. In the 
140 contests decided without a runoff, reformers claimed vic- 
tory for fifty-nine of the candidates, although 115 of the total 
elected were CPM members (some of whom were supported by 
the Popular Front). As during the nominating phase, reform- 
ers alleged that significant violations of the election law had 
occurred, despite the Central Electoral Commission's finding 
of no major infractions. 

The second round of elections, held on March 10, 1990, 
filled the bulk of positions in the republic's Supreme Soviet 
and had a decisive impact on the country's political life. A fall 
in turnout for the second round, to 75 percent of the elector- 
ate, appears to have hurt the performance of the Popular 
Front, which won in only forty-two out of 237 districts, a consid- 
erably weaker showing than in the February contest. With the 
conclusion of the runoff, 305 of the deputies to the new 
Supreme Soviet were CPM members; 101 of the Supreme 
Soviet deputies were selected from the list supported by the 
Popular Front. With the support of deputies sympathetic to its 
views, however, the Popular Front could control more than half 
of the votes in the new Supreme Soviet. 

Political Developments in the Wake of the 1990 Elections 

As the political influence of the Popular Front increased in 
the wake of the elections, the powerful faction of ethnic Roma- 
nian nationalists within the organization became increasingly 
vocal in the pursuit of their agenda. The nationalists argued 
that the Popular Front should immediately use its majority in 
the Supreme Soviet to attain independence from Russian dom- 
ination, end migration into the republic, and improve the sta- 
tus of ethnic Romanians. 

Yedinstvo and its supporters within the Supreme Soviet 
argued against independence from the Soviet Union, against 
implementation of the August 1989 Law on State Language 
(making Moldovan written in the Latin alphabet the country's 
official language), and for increased autonomy for minority 
areas. Hence, clashes occurred almost immediately once the 
new Supreme Soviet began its inaugural session in April 1990. 



155 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Popular Front representatives, for example, entered a motion 
to rename the Supreme Soviet the National Council (Sfatul 
Tarii, the name of the 1917 legislature), in keeping, they 
argued, with national tradition. Although this motion failed, it 
provoked an acerbic public exchange among the deputies, 
which made subsequent cooperation difficult at best. A second 
controversial motion, on establishing a Moldovan flag (three 
equal vertical stripes of bright blue, yellow, and red, like the 
Romanian flag, but with Moldova's coat of arms in the center), 
passed in the Supreme Soviet but was widely and conspicuously 
disregarded by its opponents. 

The selection of a new legislative leadership also provoked 
political confrontation. Those appointed to high-level posts 
were overwhelmingly ethnic Romanians, a situation that left 
minority activists little hope that their interests would be effec- 
tively represented in deliberations on key issues. Ethnic Roma- 
nians accounted for only 70 percent of the Supreme Soviet as a 
whole but for 83 percent of the leadership. All five of the top 
positions in the Supreme Soviet were held by ethnic Roma- 
nians, as were eighteen of twenty positions in the new Council 
of Ministers. 

Faced with what they considered a concerted effort by eth- 
nic Romanian nationalists to dominate the republic, conserva- 
tives and minority activists banded together and began to resist 
majority initiatives. Organized in the Supreme Soviet as the 
Soviet Moldavia (Sovetskaya Moldaviya) faction, the antire- 
formers became increasingly inflexible. 

As confrontation grew among legislative leaders, initiatives 
undertaken at the local level drew the republic into worsening 
interethnic conflict. In the minority regions, local forces 
actively resisted what they considered to be discriminatory leg- 
islation from Chisinau. May Day celebrations in Tiraspol 
became mass protests against the republic's Supreme Soviet. 
The Tiraspol, Tighina, and Ribnita city councils, as well as the 
Ribnita raion council, each passed measures suspending appli- 
cation of the flag law in their territories. 

Deputies from Tiraspol and Tighina, unable to block legisla- 
tion they considered inimical to their interests, announced 
their intention of withdrawing from the Supreme Soviet. Pro- 
Popular Front demonstrators outside the Supreme Soviet 
responded to what they perceived as the obstructionism of 
minority legislators by becoming increasingly hostile. Follow- 
ing a series of confrontations in the capital, a leading legislative 



156 



Moldovan parliament 
building, Chisinau 
Courtesy 
PaulE. Michelson 



Chisinau city government 
offices 
Courtesy 
Ernest H. Latham, Jr. 





157 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

representative of Yedinstvo was badly beaten; 100 deputies asso- 
ciated with the Russian-speaking Soviet Moldavia faction with- 
drew from the Supreme Soviet on May 24, 1990. 

A new reformist government, with Mircea Drue as prime 
minister, took over that same day, after the previous govern- 
ment suffered a vote of no confidence. The many changes 
wrought by this government included a ban on the CPM, a ban 
on political parties becoming in effect synonymous with the 
government, and the outlawing of government censorship. In 
June 1990, the country changed its name from the Moldavian 
Soviet Socialist Republic to the Soviet Socialist Republic of 
Moldova and declared its sovereignty. 

Increasing strain between nationalists and their opponents 
had become apparent since the opening session of the 
Supreme Soviet. In the culmination of this trend, delegates to 
the second congress of the Popular Front passed measures sig- 
naling a clear break with the CPM and took an openly national- 
istic direction. The Popular Front's new program called for the 
country to be renamed the Romanian Republic of Moldova, 
for its citizens to be called "Romanians," and for the Romanian 
language to be designated the official language of the republic. 
The program also called for the return of areas inhabited by 
ethnic Romanians that were transferred to Ukraine when the 
Moldavian SSR was formed, and for the withdrawal of Soviet 
forces. 

The Popular Front's promotion of this agenda, which was 
perceived by minority populations to be expressly nationalistic 
in character, inexorably factionalized the population. Many of 
Moldova's ethnic Romanians also perceived the Popular Front 
as extremist, excessively pro-Romanian, and ineffectual. The 
opposition was able to bring the public's general dissatisfaction 
with the Popular Front into focus and eventually bring about a 
reversal in the political fortunes of the Popular Front. 

Conflict in Transnistria and Gagauzia 

As the summer of 1990 advanced, the country's initially 
inchoate political divisions transformed themselves into com- 
peting governmental authorities. Delegates to city and raion 
councils in Transnistria and in the Gagauz region met indepen- 
dently with their Supreme Soviet delegates and called for 
regional autonomy. Republic-level officials denounced these 
efforts as separatist and treasonable. 



158 



Moldova 



As efforts to reach some form of accord foundered, more 
decisive measures were taken. On August 21, 1990, the Gagauz 
announced the formation of the "Gagauz Republic" in the five 
southern raioane where their population was concentrated, sep- 
arate from the Moldavian SSR and part of the Soviet Union. 
The Transnistrians followed suit on September 2, proclaiming 
the formation of the "Dnestr Moldavian Republic," with its cap- 
ital at Tiraspol, as a part of the Soviet Union. 

It was under these circumstances that violence broke out in 
the fall of 1990. A decision by Gagauz leaders to hold a referen- 
dum on the question of local sovereignty was intensely opposed 
by the republic's government and by the Popular Front. Rival 
political forces mobilized volunteer detachments to defend 
their competing interests by force. Adding to the volatility of 
the conflict between the Gagauz and the ethnic Romanians, 
militia forces from Transnistria entered the Gagauz region to 
support the sovereignty movement there. 

In the Transnistrian city of Dubasari, the militia seized the 
city council building as part of its preparations for a referen- 
dum on autonomy in the region. When the republic's police 
sought to retake the building, new forces were mobilized from 
ethnic Romanian regions as well as from Russian-speaking 
regions. In the ensuing conflict, three persons were killed and 
dozens more wounded. 

Relations between the separatists and the republic's govern- 
ment were characterized by mutual denunciations and spo- 
radic violence from late 1990 until early 1992, when conditions 
took a sharp turn for the worse. As efforts among Moldova, 
Russia, Ukraine, and Romania to mediate the conflict foun- 
dered and as the Transnistrian separatists consolidated their 
position with the support of Russia's 14th Army, pressure built 
on President Snegur to take decisive action to resolve the con- 
flict. 

In late March 1992, Snegur declared a state of emergency 
across the republic, and soon afterward the government made 
an effort to disarm the separatists' militia. These efforts were 
met by armed resistance, which, by May 1992, had escalated 
into a full-scale civil war as weapons released to the Transnistri- 
ans by the 14th Army were used against Moldovan military 
units. 

By the close of the summer, more than 300 people had been 
killed in the conflict, and more than 1,000 had been wounded. 
A large part of the city of Tighina, which had become a focal 



159 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

point of the conflict, had been devastated; thousands of refu- 
gees flooded out of the region. 

Easing of Tensions 

While combat in the civil war remained at a bloody stale- 
mate into mid-1992, the political situation in Moldova changed 
dramatically, at least partly as a consequence of popular dissat- 
isfaction with the conflict. In the first stage of the realignment, 
former CPM first secretary Lucinschi was named ambassador 
to Russia. Lucinschi, the highest-ranking "Moldavian" outside 
of the country during the communist era, was able to use his 
connections with the Moscow political elite to promote accom- 
modation. 

Soon afterward, in July 1992, Prime Minister Valeriu 
Muravschi (who had replaced Mircea Drue) was replaced by 
Andrei Sangheli of the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova. 
Sangheli was a former CPM raion committee first secretary and 
member of the Council of Ministers. Sangheli's new govern- 
ment included significantly improved minority representation 
and promised a more efficient economic reform program, as 
well as a more moderate approach to the ethnic conflict. 

By taking this more flexible approach, Moldova was able to 
reduce the level of violence involved in the separatist dispute, if 
not to bring the conflict to an end. But the shift in policy direc- 
tion precipitated a strong backlash from the more extreme ele- 
ments of the Popular Front, which felt that it was slipping from 
power. This and popular dissatisfaction with the failing econ- 
omy forced a fundamental political reorientation. 

In December 1992, President Snegur, who clearly supported 
the more conciliatory course, touched off a crisis by delivering 
a speech to Parliament in which he laid out a course of foreign 
policy based on the pursuit of national independence. Snegur 
warned against the extremes of either unification with Roma- 
nia or reintegration into some form of alliance with Russia. His 
public position against efforts to promote unification further 
soured relations between himself and the Popular Front and at 
the same time sharpened divisions between moderates and 
more extreme nationalists within the Popular Front itself. 

Fallout from Snegur's speech was almost immediate. In early 
January 1993, Alexandru Mosanu, chairman of the Moldovan 
Parliament, offered his resignation, citing the differences 
between himself and the president of the republic and com- 



160 



Moldova 



plaining about tendencies within the government favoring the 
previous political system. 

If, as some suggest, Mosanu's resignation was intended to 
rally support in an effort to undermine President Snegur, it 
failed miserably. Not only was the resignation accepted, but 
Parliament voted overwhelmingly to replace Mosanu with 
Petru Lucinschi, a leader of those very forces about which 
Mosanu had warned. 

Political Realignment 

Lucinschi's election on February 4, 1993, to the leading 
position in Parliament marked the peak of a process of political 
realignment in Moldova. By early 1993, the Popular Front, now 
named the Christian Democratic Popular Front (CDPF), was in 
near-total disarray. Moderate intellectuals (such as Mosanu), 
who had added tremendously to the prestige of the Popular 
Front during its early years, organized the "Congress of the 
Intellectuals" to promote a nationalistic, but less extreme, 
agenda. As a result, they were expelled from the CDPF in mid- 
May. 

As a consequence of factionalism and defection, the CDPF's 
voting strength in Parliament was reduced to approximately 
twenty-five deputies. With the CDPF in decline, power shifted 
to the bloc of Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova deputies 
(the Viata Satului legislative club), which, with support from 
independent deputies, was able to play a dominant role in Par- 
liament. 

Lucinschi's election and the realignment of forces among 
the deputies brought Parliament into much closer alignment 
with President Snegur and Prime Minister Sangheli's govern- 
ment on the ethnic conflict. As a consequence, Moldova was 
better positioned than it had been in the previous two years to 
end the infighting that had characterized its political life dur- 
ing that time. There was hope that Moldova's leaders would be 
able to resolve the ongoing civil conflict, which had, of neces- 
sity, been the dominant issue in the republic since its incep- 
tion, and to proceed with the reforms that Moldova so 
desperately needed. 

At the same time, the realignment moved Moldova's govern- 
ment into a more conservative position with respect to eco- 
nomic and political reform, marginalizing legislators who were 
elected as opposition candidates and vesting more power in the 
hands of those who were originally elected as representatives of 



161 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

the CPM. In particular, the realignment gave near-veto power 
to the bloc of Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova deputies, 
many of whom were state and collective farm presidents. 
Although the great majority of these individuals supported 
democratic politics, the strength of their commitment to the 
transition to a market economy was questionable. 

Despite the powerful combination of government, the pres- 
idency, and Lucinschi's parliamentary leadership working in 
harmony, the hopelessly tangled web of factions and rivalries 
within Parliament could not be overcome, and legislation 
ground to a halt. The pro-Romanian faction objected, but a 
vote was taken to dissolve Parliament and hold early parliamen- 
tary elections. 

The 1 994 Elections and Afterward 

Campaigning for the February 27, 1994, parliamentary elec- 
tions revolved around economic reform, competing strategies 
for resolving the separatist crises, and relations with both the 
CIS and Romania. Debate on the issues of moving to a market 
economy, privatization, land reform, and foreign policy was 
polarized. 

The results of the elections quickly changed the course of 
Moldovan politics and stood in sharp contrast to the results of 
the 1990 elections. Nationalist and pro-Romanian forces were 
rejected overwhelmingly in favor of those backing Moldova's 
independence and in favor of accommodating ethnic minori- 
ties. 

Under laws passed in preparation for the February 27, 1994, 
elections, Parliament was reduced from 380 seats to a more 
manageable 104. Fifty of these delegates were selected from 
newly drawn single-member districts, and the remainder were 
elected from larger multi-member districts on the basis of pro- 
portional representation. Candidates were nominated by voters 
(independent candidates had to submit petitions with at least 
1,000 signatures), political parties, or "sociopolitical organiza- 
tions"; parties had to receive at least 4 percent of the vote to be 
accorded seats. 

The Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova won a majority 
of fifty-six of the 104 seats, followed by the Yedinstvo/Socialist 
Bloc with twenty-eight seats. Two pro-Romanian unification 
parties did not do well: the Congress of Peasants and Intellectu- 
als won eleven seats, and the CDPF won nine seats. A number 



162 



Demonstration in front of Casa Guvernului, Chisinau 

Courtesy Charles King 

of other parties did not get a high enough percentage of the 
popular vote to be represented in the new Parliament. 

In March the chairman of Parliament, Petru Lucinschi, was 
re-elected to his post, and the prime minister, Andrei Sangheli, 
was reappointed to his position. In April Parliament approved 
a new Council of Ministers, Moldova's membership in the CIS, 
and Moldova's signing of a CIS charter on economic union 
(although the country would not participate in political or mil- 
itary integration within the CIS). A public opinion poll on 
March 6, 1994, confirmed the country's course of political 
independence for the future: the Moldovan electorate voted 
overwhelmingly for Moldova to maintain its territorial integ- 
rity. 

Once the legislative logjam was broken, Parliament was able 
to work on a new constitution, which it ratified on July 28 and 
implemented August 27, 1994. The new constitution granted 



163 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

substantial autonomy to Transnistria and the "Gagauz Repub- 
lic" while reasserting Moldovan national identity and sover- 
eignty. Gagauzia (in Romanian; Gagauz-Yeri in Gagauz) would 
have cultural, administrative, and economic (but not territo- 
rial) autonomy and would elect a regional legislative assembly, 
which in turn would elect a guvernator (in Romanian; baskan in 
Gagauz), who would also be a member of the Moldovan gov- 
ernment. This was ratified by Parliament in January 1995. 

Members of the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova held 
a cautious attitude toward marketization and privatization, 
leading experts to believe that progress in economic reform 
would be slow but would be more consistent and better imple- 
mented than previously. The hard-line nationalists and the 
former communists could not vote as a majority to block 
progress. 

Human Rights 

The adoption of Moldova's constitution on August 27, 1994, 
codified certain basic human rights (including the rights to pri- 
vate property, individual freedom and personal security, free- 
dom of movement, privacy of correspondence, freedom of 
opinion and expression, and freedom of assembly), which were 
observed more in the breach during the Soviet era. However, 
the constitution still contains language that could limit the 
activities of political parties and the press. 

Although there is no government censorship of Moldova's 
independent periodicals and its radio stations and cable televi- 
sion stations, journalists complain that editors encourage them 
to soften their criticisms of government officials for fear of con- 
frontation and possible retribution. This seems to be a well- 
grounded fear in Transnistria, where the authorities have cut 
off funding for two newspapers for occasionally criticizing 
some government policies and have physically attacked a cable 
television station for broadcasting reports critical of the author- 
ities. 

In 1994 Parliament considered a new law on the press, 
which journalists criticized strongly because it limited their 
right to criticize government policies. After reviewing recom- 
mendations from the Council of Europe (see Glossary) and the 
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), 
Parliament liberalized the law but left some restrictions that 
appeared to be aimed at writings favoring reunification with 
Romania and those questioning Moldova's right to exist. 



164 



Moldova 



The Moldovan Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of 
National Security were investigated on several occasions in 
1994 to determine whether they had exceeded their legislated 
authority. They were accused of monitoring political opposi- 
tion members and using unauthorized wiretaps. There were 
also claims of interference with opposition activities during the 
campaign preceding the 1994 elections, but there was no pub- 
lic investigation of those charges. The police, subordinate to 
the Ministry of Interior, are known to have used beatings in 
their dealings with some detainees and prisoners. 

Reform of the judiciary (to bring it more into line with 
Western practices) was approved, but Parliament had not 
passed the laws needed to implement it by the end of 1994. For 
example, prosecutors rather than judges issue search and 
arrest warrants, there is no judicial review of search warrants, 
and courts do not exclude evidence obtained illegally. There 
are also reports that local prosecutors have brought unjustified 
charges against individuals in retaliation for accusations of offi- 
cial corruption or for political reasons. 

Trials in Moldova are generally open to the public, and the 
accused has the right to appeal. Bail does not exist, but release 
usually may be arranged by obtaining a written guarantee by a 
friend or family member that the accused will appear in court. 

Because the security forces and the government of the 
"Dnestr Republic" are so closely connected, human rights 
abuses in Transnistria are more flagrant. The worst of the 
abuses in Transnistria occurred in 1992, during the height of 
the fighting. There were reports of beatings, ill treatment, 
abduction, torture, and even the murder of civilians by mem- 
bers of the police and the Republic Guard. Requests for visits 
by Amnesty International and the International Committee of 
the Red Cross were routinely refused. 

In Transnistria four of the six ethnic Romanians of the 
"Tiraspol Six" remained in prison as of mid-1995, following 
their conviction in 1993 for allegedly assassinating two Tran- 
snistrian officials. The fairness of the trial was seriously ques- 
tioned by international human rights groups, and there were 
allegations that the defendants were prosecuted solely because 
of their membership in the CDPF. 

Moldova has several local human rights groups, which main- 
tain contacts with international organizations, including Hel- 
sinki Watch and Helsinki Citizens Assembly. The government 
does not interfere with human rights groups' operations. 



165 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 
The Media 

The main daily newspaper in the republic, Moldova Suve- 
rana, is published by the government. Sfatul tarii is published 
by Parliament, which also publishes the daily Nezavisimaya Mol- 
dova in Russian. Other principal newspapers include Rabochiy 
Tiraspol' (in Russian, the main newspaper of the Slavs in Trans- 
nistria), Tara, Tineretul Moldovei/ Mobdezh Moldovy (in Roma- 
nian and Russian), and Viata satului (published by the 
government) . The main cultural publication in Moldova is the 
weekly journal Literatura si arta, published by the Union of 
Writers of Moldova. Other major periodicals include Basarabia 
(also published by the writers' union), Chiparus, Alunelul, Femeie 
Moldovei, Lanterna Magica, Moldova, Noi, and Sud-Est. Kishi- 
nevskiye novosti, Kodry, and Russkoye slovo are Russian-language 
periodicals. Other minority-language periodicals include Pro- 
svita and Homin in Ukrainian, Ana sozu and Cirlangaci in 
Gagauz, Rodno slovo in Bulgarian, and Undzer col/ Nash golos in 
Yiddish and Russian. In all, 240 newspapers (ninety-seven in 
Romanian) and sixty-eight magazines (thirty-five in Romanian) 
were being published in the republic in 1990. Basa Press, an 
independent news service, was established in November 1992. 

Foreign Relations 

In the wake of its proclamation of sovereignty in 1990, 
Moldova's main diplomatic efforts were directed toward estab- 
lishing new relationships with the Soviet Union's successor 
states, establishing diplomatic links with other national govern- 
ments and international bodies, gaining international recogni- 
tion, and enlisting international support to resolve the conflict 
in Transnistria. Although substantial gains have been made in 
each of these areas, Moldova's foreign policy efforts have been 
complicated by its geographic position, its history, and the 
ongoing ethnic conflict within its borders. 

After it declared independence, Moldova made significant 
progress in international relations in a relatively short period 
of time. The first state to recognize Moldova's independence 
was neighboring Romania. By early 1995, Moldova had been 
recognized by more than 170 states, including the United 
States (which extended recognition on December 25, 1991), 
although the foreign diplomatic presence in Chisinau remains 
limited. 



166 




View of downtown Chisinau 
Courtesy Charles King 



167 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

As of early 1995, Moldova had been admitted to several 
international organizations, including the CSCE (renamed the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or 
OSCE, in January 1995), the United Nations (UN), the Inter- 
national Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank 
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the North 
Atlantic Cooperation Council, and the Community of Riparian 
Countries of the Black Sea. It also had observer status at the 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the 
World Trade Organization (WTO), the successor to GATT. 

By mid-1994 Moldova had accepted all relevant arms con- 
trol obligations of the former Soviet Union. It had ratified the 
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE Treaty — see Glos- 
sary), with its comprehensive limits on key categories of con- 
ventional military equipment. Even though Moldova had not 
acceded to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it had indi- 
cated that it intended to do so. 

Commonwealth of Independent States 

The domestic political ramifications of Moldova's civil con- 
flict in Transnistria were matched by its effect on foreign rela- 
tions. Domestic sentiments limited the foreign policy flexibility 
of the government in dealing with the former Soviet Union. 
Although President Snegur signed the Minsk Agreement 
(which created the CIS; see Appendix B) on December 8, 1991, 
and the Alma-Ata Declaration (which expanded the member- 
ship of the CIS; see Appendix C) on December 21, 1991, Mol- 
dova's Parliament, strongly influenced by the Popular Front 
bloc of delegates, refused to ratify the agreements. 

Further, along with Ukraine and Turkmenistan, Moldova 
refused to sign a January 1993 agreement that would have 
strengthened political and economic integration among CIS 
members. It thus embarked upon a difficult course of indepen- 
dence, maneuvering between Russia and Romania, both of 
which have strong interests in the region and both of which are 
more powerful than the young republic. It was only in April 
1994 that the new Parliament finally approved Moldova's mem- 
bership in the CIS and signed a CIS charter on economic 
union. 

Romania 

The relationship between Moldova and Romania, while gen- 
erally good, is far from trouble free. Although Romania was the 



168 



Moldova 



first state to recognize Moldova and has provided substantial 
support to the new republic in relation to Bucharest's means, 
ties between the two Romanian-speaking states are fraught with 
political difficulties for both countries. 

The relationship between Romania and Moldova began to 
deteriorate shortly after Moldova's independence. Because of 
their different histories, with Moldova part of the Russian 
Empire and later the Soviet Union, Moldovans and Romanians 
have different attitudes about basic social and political issues, 
such as the extent of social payments (i.e., welfare). Many 
Romanians see the Moldovans as "Russified" and hold the con- 
descending view that they are in need of assistance to overcome 
their cultural disabilities. This has been a source of growing 
resentment among the majority of Moldovans. 

For his part, Romania's president, Ion Iliescu, has worked 
consistently to maintain a positive relationship with Russia. On 
the one hand, moves on his part that could be seen as destabi- 
lizing the interethnic balance in Moldova and tipping it toward 
civil war would be potentially disastrous for his country — both 
in the limited sense of setting back Russian-Romanian relations 
and in the more serious sense of potentially drawing Russia 
into a regional conflict. On the other hand, any precipitous 
move on the part of Moldova in the direction of Romania 
would immediately raise fears of imminent unification with 
Romania among the Russian-speaking population and among 
the Gagauz and would feed interethnic hostility in the repub- 
lic. The March 6, 1994, public opinion poll confirmed to all 
interested parties, in no uncertain terms, that the populace of 
Moldova is not in favor of reuniting with any country. 

In late 1994, President Iliescu made comments questioning 
Moldova's independent status. Although relations between the 
two countries remain cordial, these comments reflected the 
Romanian nationalistic parties' greater influence in national 
politics and in the parliament in Romania. 

Russia 

In the case of Russia, interethnic conflict in Moldova pro- 
duced results similar to those that followed outbreaks of vio- 
lence in other former republics of the Soviet Union soon after 
they had proclaimed their independence. Intrinsically, Mol- 
dova was probably of little interest to Moscow, but the presence 
of an ethnic Russian minority in Moldova altered Moscow's per- 
spective. Moldova's ethnic Russians found the prospect of 



169 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Moldova's reunification with Romania alarming, because it 
would alter their status from that of a large and politically pow- 
erful force to that of a small and politically powerless minority. 
Moldova was geographically important to both the Russian 
Empire and the Soviet Union because it formed part of the 
border of each. In this way, it formed a barrier between Russia 
itself (in both cases, the ruling entity) and the outside world. 

Although officially neutral, the Russian 14th Army (sta- 
tioned in Transnistria) played a vital role in the conflict 
between the government of Moldova and the "Dnestr Repub- 
lic." Its commanders permitted the transfer of weapons from 
their stockpiles in Moldova to the Transnistrian militia and vol- 
unteered the services of "Cossack" (see Glossary) forces that 
entered the region once fighting broke out (there were 
approximately 1,000 "Cossacks" in Transnistria in 1994). Fur- 
thermore, strong indications suggested that elements of the 
14th Army actively intervened on the side of the separatists 
during the fighting, using their heavy weapons to turn the tide 
in the fighting when necessary. 

Eventually, however, it became evident that the Transnistria 
conflict was not about ethnic issues (especially once implemen- 
tation of the language law of 1989 was delayed, and the Popular 
Front extremists lost much of their power) but about political 
systems. The Transnistrian leadership wanted to return to the 
days of the Soviet Union and was wary of the Yeltsin govern- 
ment (it never repudiated its support of the August 1991 coup 
d'etat) and the reformists. 

In July 1992, an agreement negotiated by presidents Snegur 
and Yeltsin established a cease-fire in Transnistria, which 
brought an end to the worst of the fighting in Moldova. Trans- 
nistria was given special status within Moldova and was granted 
the right to determine its future should Moldova reunite with 
Romania. Russian, Transnistrian, and Moldovan peacekeeping 
troops subsequently were introduced into Transnistria. 

Maintaining the agreement was complicated by the instabil- 
ity of Russia's central government and by the implications of 
the 14th Army's involvement for Russia's domestic politics. The 
14th Army's commander, Lieutenant General Aleksandr V. 
Lebed', was politically very conservative and, despite repeated 
warnings from his superiors to restrain himself, had stated pub- 
licly that he would not "abandon" Transnistria's ethnic Rus- 
sians. Like Lebed', Russia's conservatives generally considered 
abandonment of the ethnic Russian minority to be an anath- 



170 




Window display on Russian hostilities in Transnistria, Chisinau 

Courtesy Paul E. Michelson 
People waiting in line for bread, Chisinau 
Courtesy Matt Webb 



171 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

ema. In 1995 nationalists in Russia (whose strength was grow- 
ing) were ready to protect the "rights" of Russians in the "near 
abroad" and would, no doubt, politically attack moderates who 
might be willing to end the conflict through compromise. 

By 1994, however, relations between the Transnistrian lead- 
ership and the 14th Army had deteriorated to the point that 
both sides were accusing each other of corruption (including 
arms trafficking, drug running, and money laundering) and 
political provocation. General Lebed' also saw many in the 
Transnistrian leadership as not cooperating with Russian 
efforts to mediate the conflict and as actively hampering the 
peace process. 

After the 1994 change in Moldova's government, compro- 
mises were made by both the Moldovan and the Russian gov- 
ernments to improve relations over the issue of Transnistria. 
The status of the 14th Army was scheduled to be reduced to 
that of an "operational group," General Lebed' was to be 
released from his position, and the number of officers was to 
be reduced. The two countries signed an agreement in Octo- 
ber on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria and 
Tighina within three years. Moldova accepted a linkage 
between withdrawing Russian troops and achieving a political 
solution to the conflict in Transnistria. Transnistrian observers, 
who had feared that the Yeltsin government would strike a deal 
without their consent, saw the agreement as a blow to their 
existence as a Russian entity (and also to their illegal money- 
making activities) and walked out of the negotiations. 

However, peace was not to come easily to Transnistria. The 
October 1994 agreement was a "gentlemen's agreement" that 
was signed by the two prime ministers and was to be approved 
by the two governments, but would not be submitted to the 
countries' parliaments. The Moldovan government approved 
the agreement immediately, but the Russian government did 
not, citing the need to submit it to the Russian State Duma (the 
lower house of the Russian parliament), although it still had 
not submitted the agreement as of mid-1995. 

According to General Lebed', three years was not enough 
time to withdraw the 14th Army and its materiel (although an 
American company working in Belarus offered to buy the 14th 
Army's ordnance and destroy it). Some members of Russia's 
Duma flatly refused to consider withdrawing the 14th Army. 
Under these circumstances, there was little hope for the agree- 
ment to be implemented. 



172 



Moldova 



Ukraine 

Moldova's relationship with Ukraine, another important 
player in the Transnistrian conflict, is also complicated. Areas 
that were traditionally part of the region of Moldova or Roma- 
nia (northern Bukovina, Herta, and southern Bessarabia), and 
that continue to be inhabited in part by ethnic Romanians, 
were annexed by the Ukrainian SSR when the Moldavian SSR 
was formed. The potential claims on these territories created 
tension between the two neighbors in the early years of Mol- 
dova's independence, when the Popular Front made public its 
demands for restitution. 

Another potential problem is the presence of a large ethnic 
Ukrainian minority in Moldova. Ethnic Ukrainians have sided 
with the local ethnic Russians in the dispute over Moldova's 
language law, and many ethnic Ukrainians have supported the 
separatist effort in Transnistria. However, the government of 
Moldova took significant measures to meet the demands of the 
Ukrainian minority for cultural autonomy and appears to have 
met with substantial success in defusing opposition to Mol- 
dova's language law. 

In 1995 potential problems between Ukraine and Moldova 
were subordinate to what had emerged as a strong common 
interest in containing the Transnistrian conflict. Given their 
own dispute with Russia concerning the status of Crimea, 
Ukrainians had little interest in supporting the presence of 
Russian military units outside Russia. 

As a more practical question, it was not in Ukraine's interest 
to have a large and well-equipped Russian military formation 
based in neighboring Transnistria. The 14th Army could reach 
Russia only by traversing Ukrainian territory or airspace, so its 
presence could only be seen as a potential source of danger 
and instability. Therefore, it is not surprising that Ukrainian 
president Leonid M. Kravchuk made several statements sup- 
porting Moldova's position in the Transnistrian conflict, pro- 
tested the movement of "Cossack" volunteers across Ukrainian 
territory to Transnistria, and refused to recognize Transnis- 
trian claims to sovereignty. 

Turkey 

Politically moderate Gagauz have received support from 
Turkey, which has urged the leadership of the "Gagauz Repub- 
lic" to negotiate with the Moldovan government rather than 



173 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

resort to violence, as had been the case in Transnistria. Turkish 
president Suleyman Demirel visited the "Gagauz Republic" in 
mid-1994, urging the Gagauz to accept regional autonomy and 
to be loyal citizens of Moldova. Turkey pledged to invest US$35 
million in the Gagauz region via Chisinau. 

The West 

Moldova has pursued cooperation with, and has striven to 
maintain good relations with, the West. It has joined a number 
of internadonal organizations and has been responsive to for- 
eign concerns about the pace of its conversion to capitalism. A 
January 1995 trip by President Snegur to the United States was 
the setting for an announcement by President William J. Clin- 
ton of additional assistance to Moldova for its privatization pro- 
gram and for economic restructuring. Moldova has also signed 
bilateral treaties with European Union (EU) members. 

National Security 

In October 1991, President Mircea Snegur announced 
Moldova's decision to organize its own national armed forces; 
Moldova had demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops when 
it declared its independence. The decision not to participate in 
the joint forces of the CIS was made explicit by Parliament's 
rejection of the Alma-Ata Declaration of December 21, 1991. 

The number, training, and quality of the armed forces and 
the police have varied greatly since the republic's declaration 
of independence. In April 1991, Moldova passed legislation 
that exempted its residents from service in the Soviet armed 
forces and granted immunity from prosecution to anyone 
declining to serve. A law on alternative service for conscien- 
tious objectors was passed later. 

Initially, political leaders intended to keep troop levels low. 
Moldova's plan for the regular armed forces was to recruit 
Moldovan citizens to serve in the army and national police and 
take over positions in Soviet military structures and in the 
Moldovan Ministry of National Security, which replaced the 
Committee for State Security (KGB — see Glossary) in Moldova. 
This program would in effect "republicanize" the armed forces. 
An eighteen-month draft of eighteen-year-old males was intro- 
duced. However, students at institutes of higher education were 
exempted from all but three months of service, which was 



174 




Moldovan State University, Chisinau 
Courtesy Paul E. Michelson 
Museum of National History, Chisinau 
Courtesy Charles King 



175 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

deferred until graduation. Alternative service was available for 
those with religious objections to military service. 

The Armed Forces 

A transition to a professional force of 12,000 to 15,000 vol- 
unteers was planned at first, but when fighting erupted in 1991 
between supporters of the central government in Chisinau and 
supporters of separatist regions, males between eighteen and 
forty years of age were mobilized, and the size of Moldova's mil- 
itary was temporarily expanded to meet the demands of the 
Transnistrian conflict. In 1994 the armed forces (under the 
Ministry of Defense) totaled some 11,100 volunteers, and there 
were plans to gradually create a professional army similar to 
that of the United States. 

At the beginning of 1994, the Moldovan army consisted of 
9,800 men organized into three motor rifle brigades, one artil- 
lery brigade, and one reconnaissance assault battalion. Its 
equipment consisted of fifty-six ballistic missile defenses; sev- 
enty-seven armored personnel carriers and sixty-seven "look- 
alikes"; eighteen 122mm and fifty-three 152mm towed artillery 
units; nine 120mm combined guns and mortars; seventy AT-4 
Spigot, nineteen AT-5 Spandral, and twenty-seven AT-6 Spiral 
antitank guided weapons; a 73mm SPG-9 recoilless launcher; 
forty-five MT-12 100mm antitank guns; and thirty ZU-23 
23mm and twelve S-60 57mm air defense guns. Moldova has 
received some arms from former Soviet stocks maintained on 
the territory of the republic as well as undetermined quantities 
of arms from Romania, particularly at the height of the fight- 
ing with Transnistria. 

In 1994 the Moldovan air force (including air defense) con- 
sisted of 1,300 men organized into one fighter regiment, one 
helicopter squadron, and one missile brigade. Equipment used 
by the air force included thirty-one MiG-29 aircraft, eight Mi-8 
helicopters, five transport aircraft (including an An-72), and 
twenty-five SA-3/5 surface-to-air missiles. 

Other military forces also exist within Moldova. In early 
1994, the government of the "Dnestr Republic" had armed 
forces of about 5,000, which included the Dnestr Battalion of 
the Republic Guard and some 1,000 "Cossacks." As of early 
1994, the Russian 14th Army (about 9,200 troops) consisted of 
one army headquarters, one motor rifle division, one tank bat- 
talion, one artillery regiment, and one antiaircraft brigade. 
Their equipment consisted of 120 main battle tanks, 180 



176 



Moldova 



armored combat vehicles, and 130 artillery/multiple rocket 
launchers/mortars. Peacekeepers in Transnistria consisted of 
six airborne battalions supplied by Russia, three infantry battal- 
ions supplied by Moldova, and three airborne battalions sup- 
plied by the "Dnestr Republic." 

Internal Security 

In 1994 the national police of Moldova, modeled on Italy's 
Carabinieri, were under the direction of the Ministry of Inte- 
rior and numbered some 10,000. Internal troops were reported 
to have 2,500 personnel, and the numbers of the OPON riot 
police (also known as the "Black Berets") were put at 900. Mol- 
dova's Border Guards were under the Ministry of National 
Security. 

The scope and quality of Moldova's state security apparatus 
were difficult to determine. Like the armed forces, local assets 
of the former Moldavian KGB were transferred to the new gov- 
ernment along with those personnel who wished to enter the 
service of the new government. These elements now function 
under the republic's control under the Ministry of National 
Security. 

Crime 

Crime in Moldova, as everywhere in former Soviet repub- 
lics, has risen dramatically since the demise of the Soviet 
Union. Economic and drug-related crimes, the most visible 
and predictable results of the deteriorating economic situa- 
tions in the newly independent countries, have simply over- 
whelmed the human and financial resources devoted to them. 
Often, however, the problem is more extensive than what is 
acknowledged: many crimes are not registered. For example, 
in early 1995 the Moldovan government stated that overall 
crime in Moldova had risen by 29 percent over the previous 
year. However, the number of motorbikes and motor vehicles 
"being searched for" was thirteen times the number of vehicles 
listed as "stolen." Illicit cultivation of opium poppies and can- 
nabis is carried out in Moldova, mainly for consumption in CIS 
countries. In addition, Moldova is a transshipment point for 
illegal drugs to Western Europe. 

* * * 



177 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

The best historical treatments of Moldova in the pre-Soviet 
period are still found in general treatments of Romania. Partic- 
ularly useful works include Vlad Georgescu's The Romanians, 
Robert William Seton-Watson's A History of the Roumanians, and 
Barbara Jelavich's History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth 
Centuries. Older, yet still useful, works focusing on Bessarabia 
are Charles Upson Clark's Bessarabia: Russia and Roumania on 
the Black Sea and Andrei Popovici's The Political Status of Bessara- 
bia. 

Much of the available information on the Soviet period is 
found in general works on nationalities in the former Soviet 
Union, such as James H. Bater's The Soviet Scene: A Geographical 
Perspective; Mikhail Bernstam's "The Demography of Soviet Eth- 
nic Groups in World Perspective" in The Last Empire: Nationality 
and the Soviet Future, edited by Robert Conquest; Social Trends in 
the Soviet Union from 1950 by Michael Ryan and Richard Pren- 
tice; and Viktor Kozlov's The Peoples of the Soviet Union. Sherman 
David Spector's "The Moldavian S.S.R., 1964-1974" in National- 
ism in the USSR and Eastern Europe, edited by George W. Sim- 
monds, provides more specific information concerning overall 
conditions in Moldavia. Michael Bruchis's Nations, Nationalities, 
People: A Study of the Nationalities Policy of the Communist Party in 
Soviet Moldavia is an interesting and useful account of the 
implementation of the Soviet nationalities policy in Moldavia 
by an intimate observer of the process. Bruchis describes the 
politics of language in Moldavia during the Soviet period in The 
USSR: Language and Realities: Nations, Leaders, and Scholars and 
One Step Back, Two Steps Forward: On the Language Policy of the 
Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the National Republics. 

The following are useful works on the transition period and 
current conditions (several also include sections on the pre- 
Soviet and Soviet periods): William E. Crowther's "Romania 
and Moldavian Political Dynamics" in Romania after Tyranny, 
edited by Daniel Nelson; Nicholas Dima's From Moldavia to 
Moldova: The Soviet-Romanian Territorial Dispute; "The Politics of 
Ethnonational Mobilization: Nationalism and Reform in Soviet 
Moldavia" by William E. Crowther in the Russian Review; Nico- 
las Dima's "The Soviet Political Upheaval of the 1980s: The 
Case of Moldova" in the fournal of Social, Political, and Economic 
Studies; Nicholas Dima's "Recent Changes in Soviet Moldavia" 
in the East European Quarterly; Darya Fane's "Moldova: Breaking 
Loose from Moscow" in Nations and Politics in the Soviet Successor 
States, edited by Ian Bremmer and Ray Taras; Jonathan Eyal's 



178 



Moldova 



"Moldovans" in The Nationalities Question in the Soviet Union, 
edited by Graham Smith; and Charles King's "Moldova and the 
New Bessarabian Question" in World Today. (For further infor- 
mation and complete citations, see Bibliography.) 



179 



Appendix A 



Table 

1 Metric Conversion Coefficients and Factors 

2 Belarus: Births and Deaths, 1987-90 

3 Belarus: Agricultural Production, 1990-93 

4 Belarus: Production of Selected Industrial Commodi- 

ties, 1990-93 

5 Belarus: Freight Turnover, 1990-93 

6 Belarus: Trade with Other Countries of the Former 

Soviet Union, 1992 and 1993 

7 Moldova: Births and Deaths, 1987-92 

8 Moldova: Population by Rural-Urban Breakdown, 

1959, 1979, and 1991 

9 Moldova: Marriages and Divorces, 1987-90 

10 Moldova: Consumer Goods Availability, 1989, 1990, 

and 1991 

1 1 Moldova: Per Capita Consumption of Selected Foods, 

1990-93 

12 Moldova: Principal Crops, 1990, 1991, and 1992 

13 Moldova: Freight Turnover by Mode of Transporta- 

tion, 1970, 1980, and 1990 



181 



Appendix A 



Table 1. Metric Conversion Coefficients and Factors 



When you know 


Multiply by 


To find 




ft OA 


inches 




ft ?IQ 


inches 




o.o 


reet 




ft A9 

v.oz 


miles 


Hectares (10,000 m 2 ) 


2.47 


acres 


Square kilometers 


0.39 


square miles 


Cubic meters 


35.3 


cubic feet 


Liters 


0.26 


gallons 


Kilograms 


2.2 


pounds 




0.98 


long tons 




1.1 


short tons 




2,204.0 


pounds 


Degrees Celsius (Centigrade) 


1.8 


degrees Fahrenheit 



and add 32 



Table 2. Belarus: Births and Deaths, 1987-90 

Live Births Deaths 



Number per Number per 

Year Number 1 Thousand Number 1 Thousand 

Population Population 

1987 162,900 16.1 99,900 9.9 

1988 163,200 16.1 102,700 10.1 

1989 153,500 15.0 103,500 10.1 

1990 n.a. 2 n.a. 109,600 10.7 



Estimated. 
2 n.a. — not available. 

Source: Based on information from TheEuropa World Year Book, 1994, 1, London, 1994, 
492. 



183 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Table 3. Belarus: Agricultural Production, 1990-93 
(in thousands of tons unless otherwise specified) 



Commodity 


1990 1991 




1992 


1993 


Eggs 


3,657 3,718 




3,502 


3,516 


Flax 


52 76 




61 


57 


Grain 


7,035 6,296 




7,230 


7,508 


Meat 


1,758 1,590 




1,442 


1,242 


Milk 


7,457 6,812 




5,885 


5,584 




8,590 8,958 




8,984 


11,644 


Sugar beets 


1,479 1,147 




1,120 


1,569 


Live animals (thousands) 










Cattle 


6,975 6,577 




6,221 


5,851 


Pigs 


5,051 4,703 




4,308 


4,181 


Sheep 


403 380 




336 


271 


Source: Based on information from International Monetary Fund, Belarus, Washing- 


ton, 1994, 72. 










Table 4. Belarus: Production of Selected Industrial Commodities, 


1990-93 








(in thousands of tons unless otherwise specified) 




Commodity 


1990 


1991 


1992 


1993 


Timber (millions of cubic meters) 


6.9 


6.7 


6.5 


6.2 


Plywood (thousands of cubic meters) 


192 


164 


157 


133 


Mineral fertilizers (millions of tons) 


6.0 


5.2 


4.1 


2.5 


Cement 


2,258 


2,402 


2,263 


1,908 




453 


443 


385 


293 




50.5 


50.5 


44.9 


35.2 


Wool yarn 


40.2 


34.8 


30.3 


28.2 


Linen yarn 


30.0 


24.4 


27.2 


20.8 


Electricity (billions of kilowatt-hours) 


39.5 


38.7 


37.6 


33.4 


Steel 


1,112 


1,123 


1,105 


946 


Tractors (thousands) 


100.7 


95.5 


96.1 


82.4 




225 


214 


165 


128 




846 


815 


724 


603 




979 


932 


721 


768 


Television sets (thousands) 


1,302 


1,103 


798 


610 




728 


743 


740 


738 



Source: Based on information from International Monetary Fund, Belarus, Washington, 
1994, 79. 



184 



Appendix A 



Table 5. Belarus: Freight Turnover, 1990-93 
(in millions of tons) 





1990 


1991 


1992 


1993 




119 


111 


96 


71.5 


Truck freight , 


428 


406 


304 


n.a 1 



n.a. — not available. 



Source: Based on information from United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Hand- 
book of International Economic Statistics, 1994, Washington, 1994, 59; and Paul M. 
Gregory and Jeffrey S. Glover, "Outlook for Belarus," Review and Outlook for the 
Former Soviet Union, Washington, March 1995, 116. 



Table 6. Belarus: Trade with Other Countries of the Former Soviet 
Union, 1992 and 1993 
(in millions of Russian rubles) 







1992 






1993 




Country 


Exports 


Imports 


Trade 
Balance 


Exports 


Imports 


Trade 
Balance 


Armenia 


1,071 


1,380 


-309 


5,266 


3,952 


1,314 


Azerbaijan 


5,685 


2,774 


2,911 


19,172 


13,322 


5,850 


Estonia 


3,242 


925 


2,317 


10,625 


4,520 


6,105 


Georgia 


1,696 


1,193 


503 


3,788 


4,111 


-323 


Kazakhstan 


19,340 


15,165 


4,175 


149,290 


262,559 


-113,269 


Kyrgyzstan 


1,629 


1,230 


399 


5,105 


11,473 


-6,368 


Latvia 


8,161 


5,164 


2,997 


56,065 


28,325 


27,740 


Lithuania 


8,895 


7,955 


940 


68,308 


66,560 


1,748 


Moldova 


9,073 


6,356 


2,717 


107,529 


34,509 


73,020 


Russia 


215,833 


279,248 


-63,415 


2,194,852 


3,344,168 


-1,149,316 


Tajikistan 


1,597 


991 


606 


15,972 


4,614 


11,358 


Turkmeni- 














stan 


4,188 


2,194 


1,994 


13,043 


7,963 


5,080 


Ukraine 


86,576 


85,013 


1,563 


539,987 


511,680 


28,307 


Uzbekistan 


12,780 


7,492 


5,288 


52,988 


38,627 


14,361 


TOTAL 


379,766 


417,080 


-37,314 


3,241,990 


4,336,383 


-1,094,393 



Source: Based on information from International Monetary Fund, Belarus, Washing- 
ton, 1994, 123. 



185 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Table 7. Moldova: Births andDeaths, 1987-92 



Live Births Deaths 



Number per Number per 

Year Number 1 Thousand Number 1 Thousand 

Population Population 

1987 91,800 21.4 40,200 9.4 

1988 88,600 20.5 40,900 9.5 

1989 82,200 18.9 40,100 9.2 

1990 77,100 17.7 42,400 9.7 

1991 n.a. 2 n.a. n.a. n.a. 

1992 70,100 16.1 44,600 10.2 



1 Estimated. 

2 n.a. — not available. 

Source: Based on information from Moldova, Departamentul de Stat pentru statistica 
al Republicii Moldova, Anuar statistic: economics nationala a Republicii Moldova, 
1990 (Narodnoye khozyaystvo respubliki MoldovaJ, eds., N. Pasternacov and V. 
Frunza, Chisinau, 1991, 30; and The Europa World Year Book, 1994, 2, London, 
1994, 2032. 



Table 8. Moldova: Population by Rural-Urban Breakdown, 1959, 
1979, and 1991 
(in thousands ) 







1959 




1979 




1991 




Number 


Percentage 


Number 


Percentage 


Number 


Percentage 


Rural . . . 


2,242 


78 


2,396 


61 


2,293 


53 


Urban. . . 


642 


22 


1,551 


39 


2,074 


47 



Source: Based on information from Nicholas Dima, From Moldavia to Moldova, Boulder, 
Colorado, 1991, 84; and Moldova, Departamentul de Stat pentru statistica al 
Republicii Moldova, Anuar statistic: economia nationala a Republicii Moldova, 1990 
(Narodnoye khozyaystvo respubliki Moldova), eds., N. Pasternacov and V. 
Frunza, Chisinau, 1991, 2. 



186 



Appendix A 



Table 9. Moldova: Marriages and Divorces, 1987-90 



Marriages Divorces 

Number per Number per 

Year Number 1 Thousand Number 1 Thousand 

Population Population 

1987 39,100 9.1 11,600 2.7 

1988 39,800 9.2 12,100 2.8 

1989 39,900 9.2 12,400 2.9 

1990 40,800 9.4 13,100 3.0 



Estimated. 

Source: Based on information from Moldova, Departamentul de Stat pentru statistica 
al Republicii Moldova, Anuar statistic: economia nationala a RepubJicii Moldova, 
1990 (Narodnoye khozyaystvo respubliki Moldova) , eds., N. Pasternacov and V. 
Frunza, Chisinau, 1991, 29. 



Table 10. Moldova: Consumer Goods Availability, 1989, 1990, 

and 1991 
(in units per hundred families) 





1989 


1990 


1991 




91 


91 


98 




38 


41 


45 


Refrigerators 


94 


94 


94 




74 


77 


76 




43 


44 


46 




47 


45 


43 




14 


15 


15 



Source: Based on information from United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Hand- 
book of International Economic Statistics, 1994, Washington, 1994, 61. 



187 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Table 11. Moldova: Per Capita Consumption of Selected Foods, 

1990-93 

(in kilograms unless otherwise specified) 

1990 1991 1992 1993 



Meat 1 58 56 46 42 

Milk 303 259 198 232 

Eggs (units) 203 195 166 n.a/ 

Fish 12 7 2 n.a. 

Sugar 49 41 31 30 

Vegetable oil 14 12 8 n.a. 

Potatoes 69 69 66 78 

Vegetables 112 113 95 n.a. 

Grain products 3 171 175 170 n.a. 



Includes offals and slaughter fat. 

2 n.a. — not available. 

3 In terms of flour. 

Source: Based on information from United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Hand- 
book of International Economic Statistics, 1994, Washington, 1994, 61. 



Table 12. Moldova: Principal Crops, 1990, 1991, and 1992 
(in thousands of tons) 



Crop 


1990 


1991 


1992 


Wheat 


1,130 


1,056 


924 


Corn 


885 


1,501 


632 


Potatoes 


295 


291 


310 




252 


169 


197 


Vegetables 


1,177 


989 


784 


Melons, pumpkins, and squash 


480 


454 


450 


Grapes 


940 


774 


819 




901 


698 


506 


Sugar beets 


2,375 


2,262 


1,970 


Tobacco (leaves) 


73 


69 


51 



Source: Based on information from TheEuropa World Year Book, 1994, 2, London, 1994, 
2032. 



188 



Appendix A 



Table 13. Moldova: Freight Turnover by Mode of Transportation, 
1970, 1980, and 1990 
(in millions of ton-kilometers) 



Year 


Railroads 


Trucks 


Inland 

Waterways 


Airplanes 


Total 


1970 


10,406 


1,036 


110 


13 


11,565 


1980 


15,171 


1,913 


299 


14 


17,397 


1990 


15,007 


1,673 


317 


19 


17,016 



Source: Based on information from Moldova, Departamentul de Stat pentru statistica 
al Republicii Moldova, Anuar statistic: economia nationala a RepubUcii Moldova, 
1990 (Narodnoye khozyaystvo respubliki Moldova) , eds., N. Pasternacov and V. 
Frunza, Chisinau, 1991, 308. 



189 



Appendix B 



The Minsk Agreement 

Signed by the heads of state of Belarus, the Russian Federa- 
tion, and Ukraine on December 8, 1991. 

Preamble 

We, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and the 
Republic of Ukraine, as founder states of the Union of Soviet 
Socialist Republics (USSR), which signed the 1922 Union 
Treaty, further described as the high contracting parties, con- 
clude that the USSR has ceased to exist as a subject of interna- 
tional law and a geopolitical reality. 

Taking as our basis the historic community of our peoples 
and the ties which have been established between them, taking 
into account the bilateral treaties concluded between the high 
contracting parties; 

striving to build democratic law-governed states; intending 
to develop our relations on the basis of mutual recognition and 
respect for state sovereignty, the inalienable right to self-deter- 
mination, the principles of equality and non-interference in 
internal affairs, repudiation of the use of force and of eco- 
nomic or any other methods of coercion, settlement of conten- 
tious problems by means of mediation and other generally 
recognized principles and norms of international law; 

considering that further development and strengthening of 
relations of friendship, good-neighborliness and mutually ben- 
eficial co-operation between our states correspond to the vital 
national interests of their peoples and serve the cause of peace 
and security; 

confirming our adherence to the goals and principles of the 
United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and other docu- 
ments of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in 
Europe; 

and committing ourselves to observe the generally recog- 
nized internal norms on human rights and the rights of peo- 
ples, we have agreed the following: 



191 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Article 1 

The high contracting parties form the Commonwealth of Inde- 
pendent States. 

Article 2 

The high contracting parties guarantee their citizens equal 
rights and freedoms regardless of nationality or other distinc- 
tions. Each of the high contracting parties guarantees the citi- 
zens of the other parties, and also persons without citizenship 
that live on its territory, civil, political, social, economic and 
cultural rights and freedoms in accordance with generally rec- 
ognized international norms of human rights, regardless of 
national allegiance or other distinctions. 

Article 3 

The high contracting parties, desiring to promote the expres- 
sion, preservation and development of the ethnic, cultural, lin- 
guistic and religious individuality of the national minorities 
resident on their territories, and that of the unique ethno-cul- 
tural regions that have come into being, take them under their 
protection. 

Article 4 

The high contracting parties will develop the equal and mutu- 
ally beneficial co-operation of their peoples and states in the 
spheres of politics, the economy, culture, education, public 
health, protection of the environment, science and trade and 
in the humanitarian and other spheres, will promote the broad 
exchange of information and will conscientiously and uncondi- 
tionally observe reciprocal obligations. 

The parties consider it a necessity to conclude agreements 
on co-operation in the above spheres. 

Article 5 

The high contracting parties recognize and respect one 
another's territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing 
borders within the Commonwealth. 

They guarantee openness of borders, freedom of movement 
for citizens and of transmission of information within the Com- 
monwealth. 



192 



Appendix B 



Article 6 

The member-states of the Commonwealth will co-operate in 
safeguarding international peace and security and in imple- 
menting effective measures for reducing weapons and military 
spending. They seek the elimination of all nuclear weapons 
and universal total disarmament under strict international con- 
trol. 

The parties will respect one another's aspiration to attain the 
status of a non-nuclear zone and a neutral state. 

The member-states of the community will preserve and 
maintain under united command a common military-strategic 
space, including unified control over nuclear weapons, the pro- 
cedure for implementing which is regulated by a special agree- 
ment. 

They also jointly guarantee the necessary conditions for the 
stationing and functioning of and for material and social provi- 
sion for the strategic armed forces. The parties contract to pur- 
sue a harmonized policy on questions of social protection and 
pension provision for members of the services and their fami- 
lies. 

Article 7 

The high contracting parties recognize that within the sphere 
of their activities, implemented on an equal basis through the 
common coordinating institutions of the Commonwealth, will 
be the following: 

co-operation in the sphere of foreign policy; 
co-operation in forming and developing the united eco- 
nomic area, the common European and Eurasian mar- 
kets, in the area of customs policy; 
co-operation in developing transport and communication 
systems; 

co-operation in preservation of the environment, and partic- 
ipation in creating a comprehensive international system 
of ecological safety; 

migration policy issues; 

and fighting organized crime. 

Article 8 

The parties realize the planetary character of the Chernobyl 
catastrophe and pledge themselves to unite and co-ordinate 
their efforts in minimizing and overcoming its consequences. 



193 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

To these ends they have decided to conclude a special agree- 
ment which will take consider [sic] the gravity of the conse- 
quences of this catastrophe. 

Article 9 

The disputes regarding interpretation and application of the 
norms of this agreement are to be solved by way of negotiations 
between the appropriate bodies, and when necessary, at the 
level of heads of the governments and states. 

Article 10 

Each of the high contracting parties reserves the right to sus- 
pend the validity of the present agreement or individual arti- 
cles thereof, after informing the parties to the agreement of 
this a year in advance. 

The clauses of the present agreement may be addended to 
or amended with the common consent of the high contracting 
parties. 

Article 11 

From the moment that the present agreement is signed, the 
norms of third states, including the former USSR, are not per- 
mitted to be implemented on the territories of the signatory 
states. 

Article 1 2 

The high contracting parties guarantee the fulfillment of the 
international obligations binding upon them from the treaties 
and agreements of the former USSR. 

Article 13 

The present agreement does not affect the obligations of the 
high contracting parties in regard to third states. 

The present agreement is open for all member-states of the 
former USSR to join, and also for other states which share the 
goals and principles of the present agreement. 

Article 14 

The city of Minsk is the official location of the coordinating 
bodies of the Commonwealth. 

The activities of bodies of the former USSR are discontinued 
on the territories of the member-states of the Commonwealth. 



194 



Appendix C 



The Alma-Ata Declaration 

The Alma-Ata Declaration was signed by 11 heads of state on 
December 21, 1991. 

Preamble 

The independent states: 

The Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the 
Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic 
of Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federa- 
tion, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkmenistan, 
the Republic of Ukraine and the Republic of Uzbekistan; 

seeking to build democratic law-governed states, the rela- 
tions between which will develop on the basis of mutual recog- 
nition and respect for state sovereignty and sovereign equality, 
the inalienable right to self-determination, principles of equal- 
ity and noninterference in the internal affairs, the rejection of 
the use of force, the threat of force and economic and any 
other methods of pressure, a peaceful settlement of disputes, 
respect for human rights and freedoms, including the rights of 
national minorities, a conscientious fulfillment of commit- 
ments and other generally recognized principles and standards 
of international law; 

recognizing and respecting each other's territorial integrity 
and the inviolability of the existing borders; 

believing that the strengthening of the relations of friend- 
ship, good neighborliness and mutually advantageous co-oper- 
ation, which has deep historic roots, meets the basic interests of 
nations and promotes the cause of peace and security; 

being aware of their responsibility for the preservation of 
civilian peace and inter-ethnic accord; 

being loyal to the objectives and principles of the agreement 
on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States; 

are making the following statement: 

The Declaration 

Co-operation between members of the Commonwealth will be 
carried out in accordance with the principle of equality 
through coordinating institutions formed on a parity basis and 



195 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

operating in the way established by the agreements between 
members of the Commonwealth, which is neither a state, nor a 
super-state structure. 

In order to ensure international strategic stability and secu- 
rity, allied command of the military-strategic forces and a single 
control over nuclear weapons will be preserved, the sides will 
respect each other's desire to attain the status of a non-nuclear 
and (or) neutral state. 

The Commonwealth of Independent States is open, with the 
agreement of all its participants, to the states — members of the 
former USSR, as well as other states — sharing the goals and 
principles of the Commonwealth. 

The allegiance to co-operation in the formation and devel- 
opment of the common economic space, and all-European and 
Eurasian markets, is being confirmed. 

With the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent 
States the USSR ceases to exist. Member states of the Common- 
wealth guarantee, in accordance with their constitutional pro- 
cedures, the fulfillment of international obligations, stemming 
from the treaties and agreements of the former USSR. 

Member-states of the Commonwealth pledge to observe 
strictly the principles of this declaration. 

Agreement on Councils of Heads of State and Government 

A provisional agreement on the membership and conduct of 
Councils of Heads of State and Government was concluded 
between the members of the Commonwealth of Independent 
States on December 30, 1991. 

Preamble 

The member-states of this agreement, guided by the aims and 
principles of the agreement on the creation of a Common- 
wealth of Independent States of 8 December 1991 and the pro- 
tocol to the agreement of 21 December 1991, taking into 
consideration the desire of the Commonwealth states to pursue 
joint activity through the Commonwealth's common coordinat- 
ing institutions, and deeming it essential to establish, for the 
consistent implementation of the provisions of the said agree- 
ment, the appropriate inter-state and inter-governmental insti- 
tutions capable of ensuring effective co-ordination, and of 
promoting the development of equal and mutually advanta- 
geous co-operation, have agreed on the following: 



196 



Appendix C 



Article 1 

The Council of Heads of State is the supreme body, on which 
all the member-states of the Commonwealth are represented at 
the level of head of state, for discussion of fundamental issues 
connected with coordinating the activity of the Commonwealth 
states in the sphere of their common interests. 

The Council of Heads of State is empowered to discuss issues 
provided for by the Minsk Agreement on the creation of a 
Commonwealth of Independent States and other documents 
for the development of the said Agreement, including the 
problems of legal succession, which have arisen as a result of 
ending the existence of the USSR and the abolition of Union 
structures. 

The activities of the Council of Heads of State and of the 
Council of Heads of Government are pursued on the basis of 
mutual recognition of and respect for the state sovereignty and 
sovereign equality of the member-states of the Agreement, 
their inalienable right to self-determination, the principles of 
equality and non-interference in internal affairs, the renuncia- 
tion of the use of force and the threat of force, territorial integ- 
rity and the inviolability of existing borders, and the peaceful 
settlement of disputes, respect for human rights and liberties, 
including the rights of national minorities, conscientious ful- 
fillment of obligations and other commonly accepted princi- 
ples and norms of international law. 

Article 2 

The activities of the Council of Heads of State and of the Coun- 
cil Heads of Government are regulated by the Minsk Agree- 
ment on setting up the Commonwealth of Independent States, 
the present agreement and agreements adopted in develop- 
ment of them, and also by the rules of procedure of these insti- 
tutes. 

Each state in the council has one vote. The decisions of the 
council are taken by common consent. 

The official languages of the Councils are the state lan- 
guages of the Commonwealth states. 

The working language is the Russian language. 

Article 3 

The Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of 
Government discuss and where necessary take decisions on the 
more important domestic and external issues. 



197 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Any state may declare its having no interest in a particular 
issue or issues. 

Article 4 

The Council of Heads of State convenes for meetings no less 
than twice a year. The decision on the time for holding and the 
provisional agenda of each successive meeting of the Council is 
taken at the routine meeting of the Council, unless the Council 
agrees otherwise. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of 
Heads of State are convened on the initiative of the majority of 
Commonwealth heads of state. 

The heads of state chair the meetings of the Council in turn, 
according to the Russian alphabetical order of the names of 
the Commonwealth states. 

Sittings of the Council of Heads of State are generally to be 
held in Minsk. A sitting of the Council may be held in another 
of the Commonwealth states by agreement among those taking 
part. 

Article 5 

The Council of Heads of Government convenes for meetings 
no less frequently than once every three months. The decision 
concerning the scheduling of and preliminary agenda for each 
subsequent sitting is to be made at a routine session of the 
Council, unless the Council arranges otherwise. 

Extraordinary sittings of the Council of Heads of Govern- 
ment may be convened at the initiative of a majority of heads of 
government of the commonwealth states. 

The heads of government chair meetings of the Council in 
turn, according to the Russian alphabetical order of the names 
of the Commonwealth states. 

Sittings of the Council of Heads of Government are gener- 
ally to be held in Minsk. A sitting of the Council may be held in 
another of the Commonwealth states by agreement among the 
heads of government. 

Article 6 

The Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of 
Government of the Commonwealth states may hold joint sit- 
tings. 

Article 7 

Working and auxiliary bodies may be set up on both a perma- 



198 



Appendix C 



nent and interim basis on the decision of the Council of Heads 
of State and the Council of Heads of Government of the Com- 
monwealth states. 

These are composed of authorized representatives of the 
participating states. Experts and consultants may be invited to 
take part in their sittings. 

Agreement on Strategic Forces 

The Agreement on Strategic Forces was concluded between 
the 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States 
on December 30, 1991. 

Preamble 

Guided by the necessity for a coordinated and organized solu- 
tion to issues in the sphere of the control of the strategic forces 
and the single control over nuclear weapons, the Republic of 
Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, 
the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the 
Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of 
Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkmenistan, the Republic of 
Ukraine and the Republic of Uzbekistan, subsequently 
referred to as 'the member-states of the Commonwealth,' have 
agreed on the following: 

Article 1 

The term 'strategic forces' means: groupings, formations, units, 
institutions, the military training institutes for the strategic mis- 
sile troops, for the air force, for the navy and for the air 
defenses; the directorates of the Space Command and of the 
airborne troops, and of strategic and operational intelligence, 
and the nuclear technical units and also the forces, equipment 
and other military facilities designed for the control and main- 
tenance of the strategic forces of the former USSR (the sched- 
ule is to be determined for each state participating in the 
Commonwealth in a separate protocol) . 

Article 2 

The member-states of the Commonwealth undertake to 
observe the international treaties of the former USSR, to pur- 
sue a coordinated policy in the area of international security, 
disarmament and arms control, and to participate in the prep- 
aration and implementation of programs for reductions in 
arms and armed forces. The member-states of the Common- 



199 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

wealth are immediately entering into negotiations with one 
another and also with other states which were formerly part of 
the USSR, but which have not joined the commonwealth, with 
the aim of ensuring guarantees and developing mechanisms 
for implementing the aforementioned treaties. 

Article 3 

The member-states of the Commonwealth recognize the need 
for joint command of strategic forces and for maintaining uni- 
fied control of nuclear weapons, and other types of weapons of 
mass destruction, of the armed forces of the former USSR. 

Article 4 

Until the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, the deci- 
sion on the need for their use is taken by the president of the 
Russian Federation in agreement with the heads of the Repub- 
lic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of 
Ukraine, and in consultation with the heads of the other mem- 
ber-states of the Commonwealth. 

Until their destruction in full, nuclear weapons located on 
the territory of the Republic of Ukraine shall be under the con- 
trol of the Combined Strategic Forces Command, with the aim 
that they not be used and be dismantled by the end of 1994, 
including tactical nuclear weapons by 1 July 1992. 

The process of destruction of nuclear weapons located on 
the territory of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of 
Ukraine shall take place with the participation of the Republic 
of Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Republic of 
Ukraine under the joint control of the Commonwealth states. 

Article 5 

The status of strategic forces and the procedure for service in 
them shall be defined in a special agreement. 

Article 6 

This agreement shall enter into force from the moment of its 
signing and shall be terminated by decision of the signatory 
states or the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth. 

This agreement shall cease to apply to a signatory state from 
whose territory strategic forces or nuclear weapons are with- 
drawn. 



200 



Appendix C 



Agreement on Armed Forces and Border Troops 

The Agreement on Strategic Forces was concluded between 
the 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States 
on December 30, 1991. 

Preamble 

Proceeding from the need for a mutually acceptable settlement 
of matters of defense and security, including guarding the bor- 
ders of the Commonwealth member-states, the member-states 
of the Commonwealth of Independent States have agreed the 
following: 

The Agreement 

The commonwealth member-states confirm their legitimate 
right to set up their own armed forces; 

jointly with the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, to 
examine and settle, within two months of the date of this agree- 
ment, the issue of the procedure for controlling general pur- 
pose forces, taking account of the national legislations of the 
Commonwealth states and also the issue of the consistent 
implementation by the Commonwealth states of their right to 
set up their own armed forces. For the Republic of Ukraine, 
this will be from 3 January 1991; 

to appoint I. Ya. Kalini[n]chenko Commander-in-Chief of 
Border Troops; 

to instruct the Commander-in-Chief of Border Troops to 
work out, within two months and in conjunction with the lead- 
ers of the Commonwealth member-states, a mechanism for the 
activity of the Border Troops, taking account of the national 
legislations [sic] of the Commonwealth states, with the excep- 
tion of states with which a mechanism for the activity of Border 
Troops has already been agreed. 

Note: In addition, Marshal Yevgeniy Shaposhnikov was con- 
firmed as acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of 
the Commonwealth of Independent States. 



201 



Appendix D 



Declaration of Independence of the Republic of 
Moldova 

THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA, 
constituted after free and democratic elections, 

taking into account the millenary history of our people and 
its uninterrupted statehood within its historical and ethnic 
area of its national making, 

considering the acts of dismemberment of its national terri- 
tory between 1775 and 1812 as being contradictory to the his- 
torical right of its people and the judicial stature of the 
principality of Moldova, acts recalled by the entire historical 
evolution and the free will of the population of Bassarabia and 
Bukovina, 

underlining the existence of Moldavians [sic] in Transni- 
stria, a component part of the historical and ethnic territory of 
our people, 

acknowledging that declarations by many parliaments of 
many states consider the agreement of August 23, 1939, 
between the government of the USSR and the government of 
Germany null and void ab initio and demand that the political 
and judicial consequences of the above be eliminated, a fact 
revealed also by the declaration of the international confer- 
ence "The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and its consequences for 
Bassarabia", adopted on 28 June 1991, 

pointing out that, without the prior consultation of the pop- 
ulation of Bassarabia, Northern Bukovina and Hertza District, 
occupied by force on June 28, 1940, as well as the Moldavian 
Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic (Transnistria) estab- 
lished on Oct. 12, 1924, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, by 
infringing its constitutional prerogatives, adopted the "Law of 
the USSR on the establishment of the Moldavian SSR" on 
August 2, 1940, and its Presidium issued "The Decree concern- 
ing the frontiers between the Ukrainian SSR and the Molda- 
vian SSR", on November 4, 1940, judicial acts whereby, in the 
absence of any real legal basis, it was attempted to justify the 
dismantlement of those territories and the incorporation of 
the new republic into the USSR, 



203 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

recalling that during the recent years the democratic 
national liberation movement of the population of the Repub- 
lic of Moldova reaffirmed its aspirations for freedom, indepen- 
dence and national unity, expressed in final documents of the 
Great National Reunion of Kishinau [sic] on 27 August, 1989, 
16 December, 1990, and 27 August, 1991, laws and decisions of 
the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova concerning the laws 
reintroducing Romanian as the state language and the Latin 
alphabet on August 31, 1989, the state flag on 27 April, 1990, 
the state emblem on November 3, 1990, and the change of the 
official name of the republic on May 23, 1991, 

taking as a basis the declaration concerning State Sover- 
eignty of the Republic of Moldova, adopted by the parliament 
on June 23, 1990, and the fact that the population of the 
Republic of Moldova, in its own right as a sovereign people, did 
not participate at the referendum on the preservation of the 
USSR, held on March 17, 1991, in spite [sic] of the pressures 
exercized [sic] by the state organs of the USSR, 

taking into account the irreversible processes taking place in 
Europe and elsewhere in the world calling for democracy, free- 
dom and national unity, for the establishment of a state of law 
and the transformation towards a free market, 

reaffirming the equal rights of peoples and their right to 
self-determination, as laid down in the UN Charta, the Helsinki 
Final Act and the norms of international law pertaining to the 
above, 

considering that the time has come for the proclamation of 
a judicial act, in accordance with the history of our people and 
moral norms of international law, 

PROCLAIMS SOLEMNLY, 

in virtue of the right of self-determination of peoples, in the 
name of the entire population of the Republic of Moldova, and 
in front of the whole world, that: 

THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA IS A SOVEREIGN, INDEPEN- 
DENT AND DEMOCRATIC STATE, FREE TO DECIDE ITS 
PRESENT AND FUTURE, WITHOUT ANY EXTERNAL INTER- 
FERENCE, KEEPING WITH THE IDEALS AND ASPIRATIONS 
OF THE PEOPLE WITHIN ITS HISTORICAL AND ETHNIC 
AREA OF ITS NATIONAL MAKING. 



204 



Appendix D 



In its quality as a SOVEREIGN AND INDEPENDENT 
STATE, THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA, hereby 

requests all states and world governments to recognize the 
independence of the Republic of Moldova, as proclaimed by 
the freely elected parliament of the republic and is willing to 
establish political, economic and cultural relations and any 
other relations of common interest with European countries 
and all other countries of the world, and is ready to establish 
diplomatic relations with the above, in accordance with the 
norms of international law and common practice on the above 
matter, 

requests the United Nations to admit the Republic of Mol- 
dova as a full member of the world organization and its special- 
ized [sic] agencies, 

declares that it is ready to adhere to the Helsinki Final Act 
and the Paris Charta for a new Europe, equally asking to be 
admitted to the CSCE and its mechanisms, with equal rights, 

requests the USSR to begin negotiations with the govern- 
ment of the Republic of Moldova to terminate the illegal state 
of occupation and annexation and the withdrawal of Soviet 
troops from its national territory, 

decides that no other laws should be respected on its terri- 
tory but those that are in conformity with the republic's consti- 
tution, laws and all other legal acts adopted by the legally 
constituted organs of the Republic of Moldova, 

guarantees the exercise of social, economic, cultural and 
political rights for all citizens of the Republic of Moldova, 
including those of national, ethnic, religious and linguistic 
groups, in conformity with the provisions of the Helsinki Final 
Act and documents adopted afterwards, as well as the Paris 
Charta for a new Europe. 

SO HELP US GOD! 

Adopted in Chisinau, by the Parliament of the Republic of 
Moldova on this day, the 27 th of August, 1991. 



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Patras, Mihai. "Migrarea: Statasul Problemului si Calea Rezolva- 
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Petersen, Phillip. "Moldova — Improving the Prospects for 
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Postolachi, Vasile. "Speranta ramine in turn doi" (Hope 

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219 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



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Zelenchuk, Valintin Stepanich. "Populatia Moldovei in Peri- 
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(Various issues of the following periodicals were also used in the 
preparation of this chapter: British Broadcasting Corporation, Sum- 
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dom]; and Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: 
Central Eurasia.) 



223 



Glossary 



apparatchik — Russian colloquial word for someone who has 
been engaged full time in the work of the CPSU (q.v.) 
and/or the republic communist parties. Sometimes used 
in a derogatory sense. 

August coup d'etat — On August 19, 1991, high-ranking officials 
of the CPSU (q.v.) and the government of the Soviet 
Union (q.v.) announced that they had formed the State 
Committee for the State of Emergency and had removed 
Mikhail S. Gorbachev as the head of state. Leaders of most 
of the Soviet republics and many foreign leaders 
denounced the coup. Some key military commanders 
refused to deploy their forces in support of the coup lead- 
ers, and by August 22 the coup had collapsed. As a conse- 
quence of the failed coup, the CPSU and the Soviet 
central government were severely discredited, Gorbachev 
resigned, ten of the fifteen Soviet republics declared or 
reaffirmed their independence (including Belarus and 
Moldova), and the Congress of People's Deputies (q.v.) 
dissolved the Soviet Union and itself after transferring 
state power to a transitional government. 

Belarusian ruble — The monetary unit of Belarus, introduced 
in May 1992. In March 1995, the exchange rate was 11,669 
Belarusian rubles per US$1. The Belarusian ruble is con- 
vertible, within limits. 

Bessarabia (Basarabia in Romanian) — Former principality, 
originally composed of lands owned by the Basarab 
Dynasty of Walachia (q.v.), extending inland from the 
Black Sea coast and bounded on the west by the Prut River 
and on the east by the Nistru River. In 1812 the name was 
extended to all the land between the Prut and Nistru riv- 
ers by the Russian Empire (q.v.), to which Bessarabia was 
awarded by the Treaty of Bucharest. The bulk of Bessara- 
bia makes up most of the present-day Republic of Mol- 
dova. 

Bolshevik — A member of the radical group within the Russian 
Social Democratic Labor Party, which, under Vladimir I. 
Lenin's leadership, staged the Bolshevik Revolution. In 
March 1918, the Bolsheviks formed the Russian Commu- 
nist Party (Bolshevik) and began calling themselves Com- 



225 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

munists (q.v.). That party was the precursor of the 
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU — q.v.). 

Bukovina (Bucovina in Romanian; Bukovyna in Ukrainian) — 
An area in the eastern foothills of the Carpathian Moun- 
tains populated principally by ethnic Ukrainians and 
Romanians. Over the centuries, Bukovina has belonged to 
various states, including Kievan Rus', Moldova, and Aus- 
tria-Hungary. In 1940 the northern half of Bukovina 
became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 
while the southern half remained part of Romania. 

Bund (General Union of Jewish Workers in Russia and 
Poland) — A Jewish socialist movement founded in Vilnius 
in 1897 by Jewish workers and intellectuals in the Russian 
Empire (q.v.). The Bund divided into two groups in 1920. 
The larger group merged with the Bolshevik (q.v.) branch 
of the communist party, while the minority remained inde- 
pendent until it was suppressed by theBolshevik govern- 
ment. 

chernozem — Russian word meaning black earth. Rich, highly 
fertile soil. 

collective farm (kolkhoz in Russian) — Under the communist 
(q.v.) regime, an agricultural "cooperative" where peasants 
worked collectively on state-owned land under the direc- 
tion of party-approved plans and leaders and were paid 
wages based partly on the success of their harvest. 

collectivization — Joseph V. Stalin's policy of confiscating pri- 
vately owned agricultural lands and facilities and consoli- 
dating them, along with farmers and their families, into 
large collective farms (q.v.) and state farms (q.v.). 

Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance; some- 
times cited as CMEA or CEMA) — A multilateral economic 
alliance created in 1949, ostensibly to promote economic 
development of member states through cooperation and 
specialization, but actually to enforce Soviet economic 
domination of Eastern Europe. Members shortly before its 
official demise in January 1991 were Bulgaria, Cuba, 
Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East 
Germany), Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the 
Soviet Union, and Vietnam. 

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — Created on 
December 8, 1991, with the signing of the Minsk Agree- 
ment by Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. The Alma-Ata Dec- 
laration, signed by eleven heads of state on December 21, 



226 



Glossary 



1991, expanded membership in the CIS to all other 
former Soviet republics except Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, 
and Lithuania. Moldova joined the CIS in April 1994. The 
CIS is a confederation of former Soviet republics in which 
"coordinating bodies" oversee common interests in the 
economy, foreign policy, and defense of its members. 

communism/communist — The official ideology of the Soviet 
Union (q.v.), based on Marxism-Leninism, which provided 
for a system of authoritarian government in which the 
CPSU (q.v.) alone controlled state-owned means of pro- 
duction. It sought to establish a society in which the state 
withered away and goods and services were distributed 
equitably. A communist is an adherent or advocate of com- 
munism; when capitalized, "Communist" refers to a mem- 
ber of a communist party. 

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) — 
Established in 1972, the group in 1994 consisted of fifty- 
three nations, including all European countries, and spon- 
sored joint sessions and consultations on political issues 
vital to European security. The Charter of Paris (1990) 
changed the CSCE from an ad hoc forum to an organiza- 
tion having permanent institutions. In 1992 new CSCE 
roles in conflict prevention and management were 
defined, potentially making the CSCE the center of a 
Europe-based collective security system. In the early 1990s, 
however, applications of these instruments to conflicts in 
Yugoslavia and the Caucasus did not have a decisive 
impact. In January 1995, the organization was renamed 
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE). 

Congress of People's Deputies — Established in 1988 by consti- 
tutional amendment. The highest organ (upper tier) of 
legislative and executive authority in the Soviet Union 
(q.v.). It elected the Supreme Soviet (q.v.) of the Soviet 
Union but ceased to exist at the demise of the Soviet 
Union. 

Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE Treaty) — An 
agreement signed in 1990 by the member nations of the 
Warsaw Pact (q.v.) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- 
tion to establish parity in conventional weapons between 
the two organizations from the Atlantic to the Urals. The 
treaty included a strict system of inspection and informa- 
tion exchange and remained in force, although not strictly 



227 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

observed by all parties, in the mid-1990s. 

Cossacks — Originally peasants (primarily Ukrainian and Rus- 
sian) who fled from oppression to the lower Dnepr and 
Don river regions to settle in the frontier areas separating 
fifteenth-century Muscovy, Poland, and the lands occupied 
by the Tatars. They later organized themselves into mili- 
tary formations to resist Tatar raids. Renowned as horse- 
men, they were absorbed into the army of the Russian 
Empire (q.v.) by the late eighteenth century. In the early 
1990s, there were attempts to reestablish a Cossack mili- 
tary tradition in Ukraine. The "Cossacks" in Transnistria 
were mostly Russian mercenaries, ultranationalists, and 
military veterans. 

Council of Europe — Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe 
is an organization overseeing intergovernmental coopera- 
tion in designated areas such as environmental planning, 
finance, sports, crime, migration, and legal matters. In 
1994 the council had thirty-three members. 

CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) — Since 1952 the 
official name of the communist party in the Soviet Union 
(q.v.). After the August coup d'etat (q.v.), in which the 
party played a prominent role, Russian president Boris N. 
Yeltsin banned the party in Russia and ordered its property 
turned over to the government. The Communist Party of 
Belarus was banned in Belarus in August 1991, as was the 
Communist Party of Moldova in Moldova. 

Cyrillic alphabet — An alphabet based on Greek characters that 
was created in the ninth century to serve as a medium for 
writing Orthodox texts translated from Greek into Old 
Church Slavonic (q.v.). Named for Cyril, the leader of the 
first religious mission from Constantinople to the Slavic 
peoples, Cyrillic is used by modern Russian, Belarusian, 
"Moldavian" (q.v.), and several other languages, both 
Slavic and non-Slavic. 

"Dnestr Moldavian Republic" — An extralegal political entity, 
located on the east bank of the Nistru River, that declared 
its independence in September 1990. Established by Rus- 
sian-speaking conservatives who wished to remain part of 
the Soviet Union. In 1995 the territory of the "Dnestr 
Republic" (as it was commonly known) consisted of all 
Moldovan land east of the Nistru River, with the exception 
of two enclaves bordering the river, one around Cosnita 
(northeast of Chisinau), and the other between Dubasari 



228 



Gbssary 



and Malovata to its northwest. In addition, the "Dnestr 
Republic" included territory on the west bank of the 
Nistru: the city of Tighina and an area to the southeast of 
the city that bordered on the river. 

enterprise — A production establishment, such as a plant or a 
factory, in the communist (q.v.) era; not to be confused 
with a privately owned, Western-style business. 

eparchy — An administrative district of the Orthodox and Uni- 
ate (q.v.) churches, usually headed by a bishop. Equivalent 
to a diocese in the Roman Catholic Church. A group of 
eparchies constitutes a metropolitan see. 

ethnic Belarusian/Belorussian — Person whose ethnic heritage 
is East Slavic and whose native language is Belarusian/ 
Belorussian. 

ethnic Bulgarian — Person whose ethnic heritage is South Slavic 
and whose native language is Bulgarian. 

ethnic Pole — Person whose ethnic heritage is West Slavic and 
whose native language is Polish. 

ethnic Romanian — Person whose ethnic heritage is Latin and 
whose native language is Romanian. 

ethnic Russian — Person whose ethnic heritage is East Slavic 
and whose native language is Russian. 

ethnic Ukrainian — Person whose ethnic heritage is East Slavic 
and whose native language is Ukrainian. 

European Union (EU) — Successor organization to the Euro- 
pean Community, officially established by ratification of 
the Maastricht Treaty of November 1993. The goal of the 
EU is closer economic unification of Western Europe, 
leading to a single monetary system and closer coopera- 
tion in matters of justice and foreign and security policies. 
In 1995 members consisted of Austria, Belgium, Britain, 
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, 
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and 
Sweden. 

exarchate — An independent church within the Orthodox 
Church. The exarch, head of the exarchate, is an Eastern 
rite bishop who ranks below a patriarch and above a met- 
ropolitan. 

fiscal year (FY) — A one-year period for financial accounting 
purposes, which can coincide with the calendar year. In 
both Belarus and Moldova, it coincides with the calendar 
year. 

glasnost — Russian word meaning openness. Public discussion of 



229 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

issues; accessibility of information so that the public can 
become familiar with it and discuss it. Mikhail S. Gor- 
bachev's policy of using the media to make information 
available on some controversial issues in order to provoke 
public discussion, challenge government and party 
bureaucrats, and mobilize greater support for his policy of 
perestroika (q.v.). 

gross domestic product (GDP) — A measure of the total value of 
goods and services produced by the domestic economy of 
a country during a given period, usually one year. 
Obtained by adding the value contributed by each sector 
of the economy in the form of profits, compensation to 
employees, and depreciation (consumption of capital). 
Only domestic production is included, not income arising 
from investments and possessions owned abroad, hence 
the use of the word "domestic" to distinguish GDP from 
gross "national" product (GNP — q.v.). 

gross national product (GNP) — The total market value of final 
goods and services produced by a country's economy dur- 
ing a year. Obtained by adding the gross domestic product 
(GDP — q.v.) and the income received from abroad by resi- 
dents and by subtracting payments remitted abroad to 
nonresidents. 

Group of Seven — The seven major noncommunist economic 
powers: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 
and the United States. 

International Monetary Fund (IMF) — Established along with 
the World Bank (q.v.) in 1945, the IMF is a specialized 
agency affiliated with the United Nations and responsible 
for stabilizing international exchange rates and payments. 
Its main function is to provide loans to its members 
(including industrialized and developing countries) when 
they experience balance of payments difficulties. These 
loans frequently have conditions that require substantial 
internal economic adjustments by the recipients, most of 
which are developing countries. Belarus and Moldova 
both became members of the IMF in 1992. 

KGB (Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti in Russian) — 
Committee for State Security. The predominant Soviet 
security police organization since its establishment in 1954 
as the successor to the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs; 
Ministerstvo vnutrennykh del, in Russian). In October 
1991, when Mikhail S. Gorbachev decreed that the KGB be 



230 



Glossary 



disbanded because of its involvement in the August coup 
d'etat (q.v.), the assets and willing personnel of the KGB in 
Moldova were transferred to the new republic's govern- 
ment, to the Ministry of National Security. In Belarus the 
new government took control of the KGB but did not 
change its name. 

leu (pi., lei) — The monetary unit of Moldova, introduced in 
November 1993. The exchange rate was 4.27 lei per US$1 
at the beginning of 1995. The leu is convertible. 

Menshevik — A member of a wing of the Russian Social Demo- 
cratic Labor Party before and during the Russian revolu- 
tions of 1905 and 1917. Unlike the Bolsheviks (q.v.), the 
Mensheviks believed in the gradual achievement of social- 
ism by parliamentary methods. 

"Moldavian" (moldavskiy in Russian) — Term used by the Soviet 
government to describe the language and nationality of 
the ethnic Romanians (q.v.) in Bessarabia (q.v.). Joseph V. 
Stalin claimed that their language and nationality were dif- 
ferent and distinct from the language and nationality of 
the ethnic Romanians in Romania as a justification for cre- 
ating the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940. In 
actuality, the "Moldavian language" is a dialect of Roma- 
nian. Under the Soviet regime, "Moldavia" was used as the 
short form for the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. 

Moldova — Former principality, one of two major historical 
regions inhabited by a Romanian-speaking population 
(along with Walachia, q.v.). Moldovan territory east of the 
Prut River was added to the original Bessarabia (q.v.), and 
the entire region was called Bessarabia when it was 
annexed by the Russian Empire (q.v.) in 1812. Also the 
name of a region in modern Romania. 

most-favored-nation status — Under the provisions of the Gene- 
ral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), when one 
country accords another most-favored-nation status, it 
agrees to extend to that country the same trade conces- 
sions, such as lower tariffs or reduced nontariff barriers, 
that it grants to any other recipient having most-favored- 
nation status. The United States granted Moldova most- 
favored-nation status in 1992. Belarus was granted that sta- 
tus in 1993. 

Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact — Agreement signed by Nazi 
Germany and the Soviet Union (q.v.) on August 23, 1939, 
immediately preceding the German invasion of Poland, 



231 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

which began World War II. A secret protocol divided 
Poland between the two powers and gave Bessarabia {q.v.), 
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the eastern part of Poland 
to the Soviet Union. Also known as the Molotov-Ribben- 
trop Pact. 

net material product (NMP) — The official measure of the 
value of goods and services produced in countries having a 
planned economy during a given period, usually a year. It 
approximates the term "gross national product" (GNP — 
q.v.) used by economists in the United States and in other 
countries having a market economy. 

New Economic Policy (Novaya ekonomicheskaya politika in 
Russian — NEP) — Instituted in 1921, it let peasants sell pro- 
duce on an open market and permitted small enterprises 
(q.v.) to be privately owned and operated. The NEP 
declined with forced collectivization (q.v.) of farms and 
was officially ended by Stalin in December 1929. 

Old Believers — A sect of the Russian Orthodox Church that 
rejected the changes made by Patriarch Nikon in the mid- 
seventeenth century. 

Old Church Slavonic — Also called Church Slavonic. The litur- 
gical language of the Orthodox and Uniate (q.v.) churches 
in Slavic lands. 

perestroika — Russian word meaning restructuring. Mikhail S. 
Gorbachev's campaign to revitalize the economy, commu- 
nist party, and society by adjusting economic, political, and 
social mechanisms. Announced at the Twenty-Seventh 
Party Congress of the CPSU (q.v.) in August 1986. 

Polonize/Polonization — The process of changing the national 
identity of non-Poles to one culturally similar to that of the 
Poles. 

Procuracy — The agency responsible for the investigation and 
prosecution of lawbreakers. The Procuracy was subject to 
the authority of the CPSU (q.v.) and had limited purview 
over political matters. In Moldova the Procuracy (and its 
successor organization, the General Prosecution Office) 
was the subject of substantial controversy in discussions on 
constitutional reform in the early 1990s. 

raion (pi., raioane in Romanian; rayon/ rayony in Belarusian and 
Russian) — A low-level territorial and administrative subdi- 
vision, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States 
in terms of function. Originally used by the Soviet Union. 

rayon — See raion. 



232 



Glossary 



Russian Empire — Formally proclaimed by Tsar Peter the Great 
in 1721 and significantly expanded during the reign of 
Catherine II, becoming a major multinational state. It col- 
lapsed during the revolutions of 1917. 

Russianization — The policy of several Soviet regimes promot- 
ing Russian as the national language of the Soviet Union. 
Russian was given equal and official status with local lan- 
guages in most non-Russian republics; it was made the offi- 
cial language of the Soviet Union in state and diplomatic 
affairs, in the armed forces, and on postage stamps, cur- 
rency, and military and civilian decorations. 

Russify/Russification — A process of changing the national 
identity of non-Russians to one culturally similar to that of 
the Russians. An official policy of the Russian Empire 
(q.v.) although not of any Soviet regime. However, such 
assimilation often resulted from the policy of Russianiza- 
tion (q.v.), particularly in the case of ethnic Ukrainians, 
Belarusians, and non-Russian educated elites. 

Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — USSR) — 
Founded December 1922; dissolved in December 1991. 
The Soviet Union included the Moldavian Autonomous 
Soviet Socialist Republic (originally called the Moldavian 
Autonomous Oblast) from 1924 until 1940, at which time 
the Soviet government created the Moldavian Soviet 
Socialist Republic on somewhat different territory until 
1941. In 1947 the Soviet Union regained control until Mol- 
dova declared its independence in August 1991. The 
Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 
1919 and remained a part of the Soviet Union until it 
declared its independence in August 1991. 

state farm (sovkhoz in Russian) — Under the communist regime, 
a government-owned and government-managed agricul- 
tural enterprise (q.v.) in which workers were paid salaries. 

steppe — The vast, semiarid, grass-covered plain in the south- 
eastern portion of Europe, extending into Asia. 

Supreme Soviet — Under the communist regime, served as the 
highest organ of state power between sittings of the Con- 
gress of People's Deputies (q.v.). The Moldovan Supreme 
Soviet changed its name to the Moldovan Parliament in 
May 1991 and declared the country sovereign one month 
later. The name of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet 
remained unchanged after Belarus declared its indepen- 
dence in August 1991. 



233 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 

Transnistria (Transdnestria in English) — From 1941 to 1944, a 
Romanian judet (province) encompassing the land 
between the Nistru and Pivdennyy Buh rivers in the Ger- 
man-occupied Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Cur- 
rently, the region between the Nistru River and Moldova's 
eastern border. In September 1990, Slavs in Transnistria 
proclaimed it the "Dnestr Moldavian Republic" (q.u). 

Uniate Church — An Eastern Christian Church that preserves 
the Eastern rite and discipline but submits to papal 
authority. The Uniate Church was established in the Pol- 
ish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (which included Ukraine 
and Belarus) in 1596 at the Union of Brest. 

Walachia — Former principality; a region in present-day south- 
ern Romania. 

Warsaw Pact — Informal name for Warsaw Treaty Organization, 
a mutual defense organization founded in 1955, which 
included the Soviet Union, Albania (which withdrew in 
1968), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic 
Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, and Roma- 
nia. The Warsaw Pact enabled the Soviet Union to station 
troops in the countries to its west to oppose the forces of 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The pact 
was the basis of the invasions of Hungary (1956) and of 
Czechoslovakia (1968); it was disbanded in July 1991. 

World Bank — Informal name used to designate a group of four 
affiliated international institutions — the International 
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the 
International Development Association (IDA), the Inter- 
national Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral 
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IBRD pro- 
vides loans to developing countries for productive 
projects. The IDA furnishes credits to the poorest develop- 
ing countries on much easier terms than those of conven- 
tional IBRD loans. The IFC supplements the activities of 
the IBRD through loans and assistance designed to 
encourage the growth of productive private enterprises in 
the less developed countries. The MIGA insures private 
foreign investment in developing countries against such 
noncommercial risks as expropriation, civil strife, and 
inconvertibility of currency. To participate in the World 
Bank group, member states must first belong to the Inter- 
national Monetary Fund (IMF — q.u). 



234 



Index 



About the Armed Forces of the Republic 
of Belarus law (1995): language provi- 
sions in, 86 

acquired immune deficiency syndrome 
(AIDS): in Belarus, 42 

agricultural products in Belarus, 49; 
price supports for, 49-50 

agricultural products in Moldova, 131, 
133-34; wine, 131, 135 

agriculture in Belarus, xxi, 47-50; col- 
lective and state farms, 47-49; diversity 
in, 49; privatization in, 48-49; prob- 
lems in, 49, 50; size of farms, 49 

agriculture in Moldova, 130, 133-35; 
agrarian reform, 131; collective and 
state farms, 130, 132, 133; decline in, 
135; employment in, 133-35; land dis- 
tribution in, 132; privatization in, 131, 
132 

Agroindbanc (Moldova), 139 

AIDS. See acquired immune deficiency 

syndrome 
air force. See -unharmed forces 
airports: in Belarus, 60; in Moldova, 140 
Aleksey II (Patriarch of Moscow and All 

Russia), xxiii 
All-Belarusian Congress (Rada), 18 
All-Belarusian Party of Popular Unity 

and Accord, 77 
All-Belorussian Congress, 22 
Alma-Ata Declaration (1991): Belarus 

and, 26, 66; Moldova and, 168, 174; 

text of, 195-201 
alternative military service: in Belarus, 

86; in Moldova, 174 
Alunelul (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
Amnesty International: Belarus and, 90- 

91 , Moldova and, 1 65 
Anasdzu (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
Antes, 105 

anti-alcohol campaign: in Moldavia, 
131, 135 

Anti-Monopoly Committee (Belarus), 47 

Antonchyk, Syarhyey, 68, 90 

Apostolic Christian Church: in Belarus, 



36 

apparatchiks, 105 

Argentina: Belarusian emigrants to, 30 
armed forces of Belarus: 83-87; ethnic 
composition of, 83; ground forces of, 
85-86; military cutbacks, 84; reforms 
in, 84-85 
armed forces of Moldova, 176-77 
Armenian Apostolic Church: in Mol- 
dova, 124 

arms sales, illegal: in Moldova, xx, 172 
August 1991 coup d'etat: effect of, in 
Belorussia, 25, 65; effect of, in Molda- 
via, 111, 149, 170 
Austria: Belorussians in, during World 
War II, 23; joint ventures with Belarus, 
64; and partition of Poland, 15; trade 
with Belarus, 63 



Babruysk (Belarus), 59, 86 
Bahushyevich, Frantsishak, 33 
Balanesti, Mount (Moldova), 113 
Balta (Ukraine) , 106-7; as capital of Mol- 
davian ASSR, 106 
Balti (Moldova), 116, 138, 140, 141; as 

municipality, 149 
Baltic Sea, 28, 60 
Balti Plain (Moldova), 113 
Banca de Economii (Moldova), 139 
Banca Mixta Pentru Export si Import. See 

Joint Bank for Export and Import 
Banca Sociala (Moldova), 139 
Bank of Romania (Moldova), 139 
Baptist Church: in Belarus, 36; in Mol- 
dova, 124 
Bar (Ukraine), 107 
Barysaw (Belarus), 59, 86 
Basa Press news service (Moldova), 166 
Basarabeasca (Moldova), 140 
Basarabia (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
BCC. SeeBelorussian Central Council 
BELAPAN news agency (Belarus), 77 
Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, 
77 



235 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Belarusian Christian Democratic Union, 
77 

Belarusian Democratic Republic, 18 
Belarusian Ecological Party, 77 
Belarusian Green Party, 77 
Belarusian Humanitarian Party, 77 
Belarusian Language Society, 35 
Belarusian News Agency. SaeBelTA 
Belarusian Orthodox Church, 36, 38 
Belarusian Party of Labor, 77 
Belarusian Party of Labor and Justice, 77 
Belarusian Peasant Party, 75 
Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) , 25; cre- 
ated, 65; described, 75; emigre con- 
tacts with, 79; Lukashyenka and, 68; 
military loyalty and, 83; opposition in 
Supreme Soviet, 66-67 
Belarusian Range, 28 
Belarusian ruble, 57 
Belarusian Scientific Industrial Con- 
gress, 77 

Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly 

(Hramada) , 76 
Belarusian Socialist Party, 77 
Belarusian State University, 35 
Belarusian United Agrarian Democratic 

Party, 77 

Belarusian Woodland (Palyessye), 28 
Belavezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), 28 
Belavia (state airline), 60 
"Belaya Rus"' Slavic Council party, 77 
Belgium: Belarusian emigrants to, 30 
Belorussia {see also Belorussian Soviet 

Socialist Republic): emigration from, 

16 

Belorussian Central Council (BCC), 22 

Belorussian Land Defense, 22 

Belorussian/Belarusian language: 
banned, 15, 17, 24; description of, 33- 
36; for military training, 86; as official 
language, 33, 35, 38, 41, 70-71; in reli- 
gious life, 38; restoration of, 24; Russi- 
fi cation and, 19-20; speakers of, 13 

Belorussian Military District, 83 

Belorussian Peasant-and-Workers' 
Union, 21 

Belorussian/Belarusian people: in Mol- 
dova, 117; in Poland, 20-21 

Belorussian Socialist Party, 18 

Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic 
(Belorussian SSR), 13, 16, 18, 19 

Belorussian SSR. See Belorussian Soviet 



Socialist Republic 
Belorussian/Belarusian State University, 
35 

BelTA (Belarusian News Agency), 77 

Bender. SeeTighina 

Bendery. SeeTighina 

Bereza Kartuska. See Byaroza-Kartuzski 

concentration camp 
Besleaga, Vladimir, 1 26 
Bessarabia, 105-7, 125, 173 
Bialystok (Poland) , 81 
Bic River (Moldova), 115 
birth defects, 29, 30 

birth rate: in Belarus, 30; in Moldova, 
115 

Black Berets (Moldova), 177 
Black Sea, 107, 114 
Bogdan (Prince), 106 
Bogdania, 106 

Bolshevik government (Moscow), 13, 18 
Bolshevik Revolution (1917): in Belorus- 
sia, 18; in Bessarabia, 106 
Bolsheviks, 18 

Border Guards: in Belarus, 85; in Mol- 
dova, 177 

Botu, Pavel, 126 

bourgeois nationalism, 23 

Brazauskas, Algirdas, 82 

Brazil: trade with Belarus, 63 

Brest (Belarus), 23-24, 31, 40, 85 

Brezhnev, Leonid I., 108, 109 

Britain: Belarusian emigrants to, 30; 
trade with Belarus, 63 

Bucharest Patriarchate {see also Roma- 
nian Orthodox Church), 123 

Bugeac Plain (Moldova), 113 

Buh River (Belarus) , 59 

Bukovina, 107, 173 

Bulgaria: ethnic Bulgarians in Moldova, 
119-20; joint ventures with Moldova, 
143 

Bulgarian Empire, 105 
Bulgarian language, 122, 141 
Bulgarian people, 105, 117, 119-20 
Bund (Belorussia), 18 
Busioc, Aureliu, 126 
Byarezina River (Belarus) , 28 
Byaroza-Kartuzski (Bereza Kartuska) 

concentration camp, 21 
Byelahraprambank, 57 
Byelarusbank, 57 
Byelaruskaye radyyo, 61 



236 



Index 



Byelaruskaye telyebachannye, 61 
Byelbiznesbank, 57 
Byelpromstroybank, 57 
Byeltransgaz, 53 
Byelvnyeshekonombank, 57 
Bykaw, Vasil', 24 
Byzantine Christianity, 39 

Cabinet of Ministers (Belarus), 47, 71, 
73 

Cahul (Moldova), 141 
Camenca (Moldova), 138 
Canada: Belarusian emigrants to, 30 
Cantemir, Dimitrie, 117, 125 
Carabinieri, 177 
Carpathian Mountains, 106, 113 
Catherine II (Empress of Russia), 121 
CDPF. See Christian Democratic Popular 
Front 

cease-fire agreement in Transnistria 
(1992), 145 

censorship: in Belarus, 77-78, 89, 90; in 
Moldova, 164 

Central Electoral Commission (Mol- 
dova), 155 

Central Executive Committee (Belorus- 
sia), 18 

Central Referendum Commission 

(Belarus), 66 
CFE Treaty. See Conventional Forces in 

Europe Treaty 
Chekhov, A.R, Russian Drama Theater 

(Moldova), 126 
Chernobyl'. See Chornobyl' nuclear 

power station disaster 
chernozem, 114 

China: arms deals with Belarus, 88; trade 
with Belarus, 63; trade with Moldova, 
143 

Chiparus (periodical) (Moldova), 166 

Chisinau (Kishinev) : as capital of Molda- 
vian SSR, 107; described, 115; Jews in, 
124; industrial development in, 129; as 
municipality, 149; power production 
at, 138; Russians in, 119; telephones 
in, 141; television and radio in, 141; 
transportation in, 140 

Chisinau State University, 1 24 

Chornobyl' nuclear power station disas- 
ter, impact in Belarus: agriculture and, 
50; benefits for victims of, 44; cultural 



Chornobyl' and, 24; environmental 
problems and, 29-30; health care sys- 
tem and, 41; opposition to nuclear 
power and, 56; perestroika and, 24; 
reform and, 64, 65; Russification of 
Belorussia and, 13; State Committee 
for Chornobyl', 29 
Christian Democratic Popular Front 
(CDPF) (Moldova), 151, 161, 162, 165 
Ciadir-Lunga (Moldova), 119 
Grlangaci (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
CIS. See Commonwealth of Indpendent 
States 

citizenship law in Belarus (1992), 31 
climate: of Belarus, 28-29; of Moldova, 
114 

Clinton, William J., 174 

Codri Hills (Moldova), 113 

collective farms: in Belarus, 47-49; in 
Moldova, 130, 132, 133 

collectivization, forced: in Belarus, 19; in 
Moldova, 1 08 

Committee for State Security (KGB): in 
Belorussia/Belarus, 24, 89; in Molda- 
via/Moldova, 174, 177 

Commonwealth of Independent States 
(CIS): Alma-Ata Declaration, text of, 
195-201; Belarus's membership in, 78; 
established under Alma-Ata Declara- 
tion, 26; expanded under Minsk 
Agreement, 66; foreign relations of 
Belarus and, 79; Minsk Agreement, 
text of, 191-94; Moldovan armed 
forces and, 174; Moldova's member- 
ship in, 112, 163; Moldova's reluc- 
tance to sign agreements with, 168; 
trade between Belarus and, 61-64; 
trade between Moldova and, 142-44; 
Treaty on Collective Security of 1992 
and, 82, 88 

Communist Party of Belorussia, (CPB), 
25, 65-66, 67; banned, 75; merged 
with Party of Communists of Belarus, 
75 

Communist Party of Moldavia (CPM), 
108, 109, 148, 149, 154; banned, 158 

Communist Party of the Soviet Union 
(CPSU), 24, 75 

Communists for Democracy (Belarus), 
25 

Community of Riparian Countries of the 
Black Sea, 168 



237 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Comrat (Moldova), 110, 119 
concentration camps: in Poland in 1935, 
21 

Conciliere legislative club (Moldova), 
152 

Confederation of Belarusian Youth Asso- 
ciations, 24 

Conference on Security and Coopera- 
tion in Europe (CSCE) {see also Orga- 
nization for Security and Cooperation 
in Europe), 78, 112, 164, 168 

Congress of Peasants and Intellectuals 
(Moldova), 151, 162 

Congress of People's Deputies (Soviet 
Union), 144 

Congress of the Intellectuals (Moldova) , 
151, 161 

Constitutional Court (Belarus), xxiii, 73 
constitution of Belarus (1994), 26, 68, 
70-71 

constitution of Moldova (1994), 112, 

123, 145, 163-64 
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty 

(CFE Treaty), 87, 168 
Coordinating Council of the Union of 

Belarusian Soldiers, 83 
corruption: in Belarus, xxi, 68, 90; in 

Moldova, 148 
Cossacks, 15 

"Cossacks," 170, 173, 176 

Council of Europe: Belarus and, 78; Mol- 
dova and, 164 

Council of Ministers (Moldova), 147- 
48, 156, 163 

CPB. See Commuist Party of Belarus 

CPM. See Communist Party of Moldova 

CPSU. See Communist Party of the Soviet 
Union 

Creanga, Ion, 126 

crime: in Belarus, 84-85, 89-90; in Mol- 
dova, 177 
Crimean Tatars, 106 

CSCE. See Conference on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe 
Cuciurgan (Moldova), 138 
"cultural Chornobyl'," 24 
culture: Belarusian, 39-40; Moldovan, 

124-26 

currency: in Belarus, 56-58; in Moldova, 

139-40 
Cuza, Alexandru loan, 106 
Cyrillic alphabet, 33, 107, 121 



Dabija, Nicolae, 126 
Dacia, 105 
Danube River, 114 
death penalty: in Belarus, 91 
death rate: in Belarus, 30; in Moldova, 
115 

Declaration of Independence of the 
Republic of Moldova, text of, 203-5 

Declaration of State Sovereignty of the 
Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, 

65, 87, 88 

defense industry: in Belarus, 47, 52, 87- 

88; in Moldova, 136 
defense spending: in Belarus, 86-87 
Demirel, Siileyman, 174 
Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova, 

111, 145, 151-52, 161; in elections of 
1994, 162-64; Sangheli and, 160; Sne- 
gur and, xxiv; voting strength 
reduced, 161-62 

Democratic Labor Party (Moldova), 151 
Democratic Moldovan Republic: cre- 
ated, 1 06 
Democratic Party (Moldova), 151 
Democratic Party for the Rebirth and 

Prosperity of Moldova, 151 
democratization: in Belarus, xxi, 69-70; 

in Moldova, xxi 
demonstrations {see also strikes): in 
Belarus, 46, 49, 90; in Moldova, 109, 

112, 156 

Denmark: joint ventures with Moldova, 
143 

deportations: from Belorussia, 22; from 

Moldavia, 108, 119 
divorce rate in Moldova, 117 
Dnestr Battalion (Moldova), 176 
"Dnestr Moldavian Republic" {see also 
Russian 14th Army; Transnistria): anti- 
Semitism in, 121; armed forces of, 
176-77; economic situation of, xxv, 
139; human rights abuses, 165; pro- 
claimed, 110, 159; radio in, 141 
Dnestr Republic. See "Dnestr Moldavian 

Republic" 
Dnyapro River (Belarus), 28, 59 
Dnyaprowska-Buhski Canal (Belarus), 59 
Doinafolk choir (Moldova), 125 
Draft Economic Reform Program of the 

Government of Moldova (1991), 131 
Drue, Mircea, 158, 160 
drugs, illegal: in Belarus, 90; in Moldova, 



238 



Index 



xx, 177 
Druta, Ion, 126 

Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, 54 
Dubasari (Moldova), 119, 138, 159 
Dzyarzhynskaya, Mount (Belarus), 28 
Dzyemyantsyey, Mikalay, 26, 66 



Eastern Territories, 21 
East Prussia, 22 

EBRD. See European Bank for Recon- 
struction and Development 

economy in Belarus: Belorussia after 
Bolshevik Revolution, 19; market, xx, 
46 

economy in Moldova: market, xx; in 

Moldavia 130-31 
Edinet (Moldova), 141 
education in Belorussia/Belarus, 17, 20, 

33,41 

education in Moldova, 125, 126-27 
elections of 1990 (Belorussia), 25 
elections of 1990 (Moldavia), 152-58 
elections of 1994 (Belarus) , 68 
elections of 1994 (Moldova), xxii, 111, 
162 

elections of 1995 (Belarus), xxi, 69; 

media coverage, 89 
elections of 1996, scheduled (Moldova), 

xxiv 

elections of 1996, scheduled (Russia), 
xxiv 

electricity {see also energy sources): in 
Belarus, 54-56; in Moldova, 1 38 

emigration: from Belarus/Belorussia, 
16, 30, 78-79; from Moldova, 117 

Eminescu, Mihai, 126 

energy resources, dependence on Rus- 
sia: by Belarus, xx, 44, 53-56, 57, 79; 
by Moldova, xx, 136, 138-39 

energy sources in Belarus, 53-54, 56; cri- 
sis of, 53-54, 63, 64; economy and, 44; 
electricity, 54, 56; energy program, 54; 
hydroelectric power, 54; natural gas, 
53-54; nuclear power, 56; oil, 53-54; 
thermal power, 54 

energy sources in Moldova, 138-39, 140; 
hydroelectric power, 138; mazut, 138; 
natural gas, 138; thermal power, 138 

environmental problems: in Belarus, 29- 
30; in Moldova, 114-15; Chornobyl' 
accident, effect of in Belarus, 29 



Eparchy of Chisinau and Moldova, 123 

Estonia: declaration of independence, 
25, 65; ethnic Belarusians in, 30; zone 
of cooperation, 88 

ethnic minorities: in Belarus, 20-21, 31- 
33; in Moldova, 119-21 

EU. See European Union 

European Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development (EBRD): Belarus's mem- 
bership in, 78; highway project in 
Belarus and, 59; Moldova's member- 
ship in, 143, 168 

European Union (EU): Belarus and, 59, 
62; Moldova and, 144, 174 

exports: by Belarus, 50, 62-63; by Mol- 
dova, 141-43, 144 



family allowances: in Belarus, 42-43; in 

Moldova, 1 28 
family size: in Moldova, 115 
February Revoludon (1917), 18 
Femeie Moldovei (periodical) (Moldova), 

166 

Filaret (Metropolitan), 38 
flag issue: in Moldova, 156 
folk traditions: in Moldova, 125 
foreign investment {see also joint ven- 
tures): in Moldova, 131, 144 
foreign relations of Belarus: with Latvia, 
82; with Lithuania, 81-82; with 
Poland, 81; with Russia, 79-80; with 
Ukraine, 80-81; with United States, 
78, 80 

foreign relations of Moldova: with CIS, 
163; with Romania, 166; with Russia, 
169-70, 172; Snegur on, 160; with 
Soviet successor states, 166; with Tur- 
key, 173-74; with Ukraine, 173; with 
United States, 166, 174 

forests: in Belarus, 28, 50; in Moldova, 
114-15 

France: Belarusian emigrants to, 21, 30 

Gagauz Halki (Gagauz People), 110, 152 
Gagauzia ( Gagauz- Yeri) {see also Gagauz 

Republic), 119, 164 
Gagauz language, 122, 141 
Gagauz People. See Gagauz Halki 
Gagauz people, 110, 117, 152, 173; 

described, 119 



239 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Gagauz Republic: autonomy under con- 
stitution of 1994, 163-64; secession of, 
110, 119, 158, 159; Turkey and, 173- 
74 

Gagauz-Yeri. SaeGagauzia 

Galati (Romania), 140 

GATT. See General Agreement on Tariffs 

and Trade 
Gazprom gas company, 139 
GDR See gross domestic product 
Gdynia (Poland) , 60 

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
(GATT) {see also World Trade Organi- 
zation): Belarus's status in, 78; Mol- 
dova's status in, 102, 168 

General Prosecution Office {see also 
Procuracy) (Moldova), 148 

German language, xxii, 122 

German people, 105, 117, 122 

Germany: Belorussian emigrants to, 30; 
joint ventures with Belarus, 64; Nazi 
Germany and Belorussia, 21-23; Nazi 
Germay and Moldavia, 1 07; trade with 
Belarus, 63; trade with Moldova, 143 

glasnost in Moldavian SSR, 108, 144 

Glavlit, 78 

Golden Horde (Mongols), 105 
Gorbachev, Mikhail S., 24, 75, 108, 144 
Gosbank (Gosudarstvennyy bank — State 

Bank): in Belorussia, 56-57 
Gosudarstvenny bank. See Gosbank 
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus', and 

Samogitia, 14, 66 
Greek people, 105 
Green Alliance (Moldova), 151 
Grigoriopol (Moldova), 141 
gross domestic product (GDP): in 

Belarus, 47, 52; in Moldova, 133 
Grossu, Simion, 154 

Group of Seven: external debt agree- 
ment, 143-44 



Hasdeu, Bogdan P., 125-26 

health care: in Belarus, 30, 41-42; in 

Moldova, 127 
Hebrew language, 141 
Helsinki Citizens Assembly, 165 
Helsinki Watch, 165 
herbicides, 127 
Herta (Ukraine), 107, 173 
higher education: in Belarus, 41; in Mol- 



dova, 126-27 
Hilyevich, Nil, 35 

HIV. See human immunodeficiency virus 
Homin (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
Homyel' (Belarus), 29, 31, 59 
hot-air balloon tragedy in Belarus, xxiii- 
xxiv 

housing: in Belarus, 44; in Moldova, 117, 
128-29 

Hramada. See Belarusian Social Demo- 
cratic Assembly 

Hrodna (Belarus), 23-24, 31, 40, 85, 90 

Hryb, Myechyslaw, 67 

human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): 
in Belarus, 42 

human rights: in Belarus, 90-91; in Mol- 
dova, 164-65; United States protests 
concerning violations of, in Belarus, 
80 

Hungary, 63, 106, 143 
Huns, 105 



Iasi (Romania), 140 

Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Lithua- 
nia), 56 
Iliescu, Ion, 169 

IMF. See International Monetary Fund 

imports: by Belarus, 63-64; by Moldova, 
138, 141, 144 

independence: of Belarus, 18, 64-68; of 
Moldova, 106, 144-45, 203-5 

industry in Belorussia/Belarus, 19, 23, 
44, 52, 62; decline in, 52; joint ven- 
tures, 64; productivity of, 52, 62; rail- 
roads and, 59; rebuilt by Stalin, 23 

industry in Moldavia/Moldova, 129-30, 
133, 136; consumer goods, 129, 135; 
defense industry, 136; heavy industry, 
1 36; joint ventures, 143; military 
goods, 136 

infant mortality: in Belarus, 30; in Mol- 
dova, 115 

inflation: in Belarus, 46, 58; in Moldova, 
132-33, 136, 139 

Inspectorate for the Protection of State 
Secrets (Belarus), 77-78 

Institute of Belorussian Culture, 35 

intellectuals: in Belarus, 24, 76, 77; in 
Moldova, 112, 161 

Intelsat. See International Telecommuni- 
cations Satellite Organization 



240 



Index 



internal security: in Belarus, 84-85, 89; 

in Moldova, 177 
International Monetary Fund (IMF): 

and Belarus, 57-58, 78; and Moldova, 

143, 168 

International Telecommunications Sat- 
ellite Organization (Intelsat), 61 

Interprinzbanca (Moldova), 139 

Iran: trade with Belarus, 62; arms deals 
with Belarus, 88 

Italy: trade with Belarus, 63; trade with 
Moldova, 143 



Jadwiga, 14 

Jagiello, Wladyslaw II (Jogaila), 14 
Jews: in Belorussia/Belarus, 22, 23, 32- 

33, 36, 39; in Moldavia/Moldova, 99, 

117, 120-21, 122, 124 
Joe dance company (Moldova), 125 
Jogaila. See Jagiello, Wladyslaw II 
Joint Bank for Export and Import 

(Banca Mixta Pentru Export si 

Import) (Moldova), 139 
joint-stock companies: in Belarus, 48; in 

Moldova, 132 
joint ventures: in Belarus, 64; in Mol- 
dova, 143 
judete (Moldova, Romania), 149 
judiciary: in Belarus, 73-74; in Moldova, 

148,165 

Kalinowski, Kastus', 15-16 

Kazakhstan: ethnic Belarusians in, 30; 
nuclear weapons in, 87; trade with 
Belarus, 62 

KGB. See Committee for State Security 

Khmel'nyts'kyi Rebellion, 15 

Khrushchev, Nikita S., 24 

Kiev (principality), 14 

Kievan Rus', 14 

Kishinev. See Chisinau 

Kishinev skiye novosti (periodical) (Mol- 
dova), 166 

Klaipeda (Lithuania), 60 

Know-How Fund, 29 

Kodry (periodical) (Moldova), 166 

Kolas, Yakub, 40 

Kravchuk, Leonid M., 173 

Krawchanka, Pyotr, 82 

Kukabaka, Mikhal, 24 



Kupala, Yanka, 40 

Kurapaty (Belarus): mass graves discov- 
ered there, 25, 64, 65 
Kyebich, Vyachaslaw, 66, 67, 68 

labor camps, 22 

labor force: in Belarus, 56; in Moldova, 
133 

lacinka alphabet, 33 
Land Lease Law (Belarus) , 48 
language use, politics of, xxii, 13 
Lanterna Magica (periodical) (Mol- 
dova), 166 
Latin alphabet: in Belarus, 33; in Mol- 
dova, 122, 123, 145, 155 
Latin America: Belarusian emigrants to, 
21 

Latvia: Belarusian emigrants to, 30; dec- 
laration of independence, 25, 65; rela- 
tions with Belarus, 82; trade with 
Belarus, 62; zone of cooperation, 88 

Latvian people: in Belarus, 31, 82 

Law About Languages in the Belorussian 
SSR (1990), 33 

Law on Foreign Investment (1992) (Mol- 
dova), 144 

Law on Privatization Checks (1993) 
(Belarus) , 46-47 

Law on Privatization of Housing (1992) 
(Belarus), 44 

Law on Privatization of State Property 
(1993) (Belarus), 46 

Law on State Language (1989) (Molda- 
via), 122, 155, 170 

Law on the Right to Land Ownership 
(1990) (Belorussia), 48 

League of Nations, 21 

Lebed', Aleksandr, xxiv, 170-72 

Lenin, Vladimir I., 19 

Leninist Social Democratic Party 
(Belorussia), 18 

leu (currency) (Moldova), 139 

Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, 77 

Licurici Republic Puppet Theater (Mol- 
dova), 126 

Lida (Belarus) , 87, 89 

life expectancy: in Belarus, 30; in Mol- 
dova, 115 

Lisbon Protocol {see also Nuclear Non- 
proliferation Treaty) , 87 
literacy rates: in Belarus, 41; in Moldova, 



241 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



125, 126 

Literatura si arta (periodical) (Moldova) , 
166 

literature: Belorussian/Belarusian, 13, 
18, 33, 40; Moldavian/Moldovan, 125- 
26 

Lithuania: electricity to Belarus from, 
56; elects communists, 66; ethnic 
Belarusians in, 30; relations with 
Belarus, 81-82; trade with Belarus, 62, 
63; transport agreements with Belarus, 
60; zone of cooperation, 88 

Lithuanian people: in Belarus, 31, 82 

livestock: in Belarus, 49; in Moldova, 134 

living standards: in Belarus, 46, 89; in 
Moldova, 127-28 

local self-government: in Belarus, 39- 
40, 74-75; in Moldova, 149 

Lucinschi, Petru: as ambassador to Rus- 
sia, 160; in elections of 1990, 154; 
scheduled elections of 1996 and, xxiv; 
as chairman of Parliament, 163; as suc- 
cessor to Mosanu, 161 

Lukashyenka, Alyaksandr: arms reduc- 
tion and, 87; on Catholic churches, 
xxiii; corruption and, 90; election of, 
26, 68; foreign relations with Russia 
and, 79; freedom of the press and, 61; 
the IMF and, 58; local self-government 
and, 74-75; Minsk strikes of 1995 and, 
xxiii; in power, 68-69; relations with 
United States and, 80; treaty with 
Lithuania and, 82; unconstitutional 
measures of, xxiii 



Magdeburg Law, 39-40 

Magyars, 105, 124 

Mahilyow, (Belarus), 29, 31, 86 

market economy: in Belarus, 46; in Mol- 
dova, 154, 162, 164 

Mazyr (Belarus), 53, 87, 89 

media: in Belarus, 77-78; in Moldova, 
141 

Mensheviks, 18 

migration: from Belorussia, 16 

military conscription: in Belarus, 84, 86; 

in Moldova, 174, 176 
military courts: in Belarus, 74 
military reforms: in Belarus, 84 
military weapons, Soviet: in Belarus, 88- 

89; in Moldova, 1 76 



mining: in Belarus, 52-53 

Ministry of Agriculture (Belarus), 47-48 

Ministry of Communications and Infor- 
mation (Belarus) , 78 

Ministry of Defense (Belarus), 83, 84, 
85-86 

Ministry of Defense (Moldova), 176 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Belarus), 78 

Ministry of Interior (Moldova), 165, 177 

Ministry of Internal Affairs (Belarus) , 
xxiii, 84-85 

Ministry of National Security (Moldova), 
165, 174, 177 

Minsk: demonstrations in, 46; military 
units at, 86; population of, 31; as rail- 
road junction, 58; self-government 
and, 40; in World War II, 22 

Minsk Agreement (1991), 26, 66, 168; 
text of, 191-94 

Minsk Television Company, 61 

"Miorita" (Moldova), 125 

Moldavia. See Moldavian Soviet Socialist 
Republic 

Moldavian ASSR. See Moldavian Autono- 
mous Soviet Socialist Republic 

Moldavian Autonomous Oblast: created, 
106 

Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist 

Republic (Moldavian ASSR), 107 
"Moldavian" language: Cyrillic alphabet 

and, 107, 121-22 
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic 

(Moldavian SSR), 107, 110 
Moldavian SSR. See Moldavian Soviet 

Socialist Republic 
Moldindconbanc (Moldova), 139 
Moldova (periodical), 166 
Moldovagas, 139 

Moldovan coupon (currency), 139 
Moldovan language, 112, 121-23; law 
opposed, 155; as official language, 
112,122,145,155 
Moldovan Parliament (see also Supreme 
Soviet), 110, 114, 139, 144; structure 
of, 145-48, 162, 165, 168 
Moldovan Party of Communists, 149 
Moldovan Popular Front, 109, 112; cre- 
ation of, 144, in election of 1990, 154- 
55; extremist backlash in, 160; foreign 
relations and, 168; Gagauz and, 159; 
influence of, 149-51, 155-56, 157; 
nationalism and, 158; territorial 



242 



Index 



claims made by, 173; Transnistria and, 
145 

Moldova River, 106 
Moldova suv er ana (newspaper), 166 
Molokan Church: in Moldova, 124 
monetary policy: of Belarus, 56-58; of 

Moldova, 139 
Mongols. See Golden Horde 
Mosanu, Alexandru, 160-61 
Moscow Patriarchy, 38 
most-favored-nation status: for Belarus, 

80; for Moldova, 143 
Muravschi, Valeriu, 151-52, 160 
Muslims: in Belarus, 36, 39 
Muzhytskaya prawda (newspaper) 

(Belarus), 15 



Narach, Lake (Belarus), 28 
Narodnaya hazyeta (newspaper) 

(Belarus), 77 
Nashaniva (newspaper) (Belarus), 18 
nashaniwstva, 18 

National Bank of Belarus, 57-58, 71 
National Bank of Moldova (NBM) , 139 
National Christian Party (NCP) (Mol- 
dova), 151 
National Council (Sfatul Tarii) (Bessara- 
bia), 106, 156 
National Democratic Party of Belarus, 77 
nationalism in Belarus/Belorussia: 
early, 15-17; German occupation 
and, 22; language and, 33; Skaryna 
and, 40; Stalinism and, 13; Uniate 
Church and, 38-39 
nationalism in Moldova/Moldavia, xxi, 
112-13, 145, 158; of ethnic Roma- 
nians, 155; "Moldavian," 108; Yedin- 
stvo and, 152 
national security: of Belarus, 82-91; of 

Moldova, 174, 176-77 
National Security Council (Belarus), 73 
NATO. See North Atlantic Treaty Organi- 
zation 

nature reserves: in Belarus, 28 

Navapolatsk (Belarus) , 53 

Nazi Germany: and Belorussia, 21-23; 

and Moldavia, 1 07 
Nazis, 22-23, 79 

Nazi-Soviet Nonagression Pact, 107 
NBM. See National Bank of Moldova 
NCP. See National Christian Party 



NEP. Sa?New Economic Policy 
Netherlands: trade with Belarus, 63; 

trade with Moldova, 143 
net material product (NMP): of Belarus, 

44, 46; of Moldova, 133, 136 
neutrality issue: for Belarus, 88 
New Apostolic Church: in Belarus, 36 
New Economic Policy (NEP), 19 
Nezavisimaya Moldova (newspaper) (Mol- 
dova), 166 
Nicholas I (Tsar) , 1 5 
Nistru River (Moldova), xx, 105, 106, 

107, 110, 113, 114, 134, 138, 140 
NMP. See net material product 
Not (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
North America, 64 

North Atlantic Cooperation Council: 
Belarus's membership in, 78; Mol- 
dova's membership in, 168 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
(NATO): and Belarus, 82, 87, 88; and 
Moldova, 112 
Northern Lights natural gas pipeline, 54 
Northwest Territory (Belorussia), 15 
NPT. See Nuclear Nonproliferation 
Treaty 

Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) 
(see also nuclear weapons): and 
Belarus, 80, 87; and Moldova, 168 
nuclear power generation: in Belarus, 56 
nuclear weapons (see also Nuclear Non- 
proliferation Treaty): and Belarus, 87, 
89 

Nyoman River (Belarus), 28 

oath of loyalty, military: in Belarus, 83 

Ocnita (Moldova), 140 

Odesa (Ukraine), 140 

Old Believers. See Old Russian Orthodox 

Church 
Old Belorussian language, 40 
Old Church Slavonic language, 14 
Old Russian Orthodox Church (Old 

Believers): in Belarus, 36; in Moldova, 

123 

On Reinforcing the Fight Against Crime 
decree (1995) (Belarus), 84-85 

OPIC. See Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation 

OPON riot police (Moldova), 177 

Organization for Security and Coopera- 



243 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



tion in Europe (OSCE) (see also Con- 
ference on Security and Cooperation 
in Europe): Belarus's membership in, 
78; Moldova and, 1 64, 1 68 

Organizational Committee of the Con- 
federation of Belarusian Youth Asso- 
ciations, 24 

Orsha (Belarus) , 46 

Orthodox Church in Belarus: conflicts 
with Uniate Church, 39; history of, 
14-15; perestroika and, 36; Polonization 
of, 21; Bolshevik Revolution and, 18 

Orthodox Church in Moldova, 123 

OSCE. See Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe 

Ostankino Television, 61, 141 

Ostrogoths, 105 

Ottoman Empire, 106 

Overseas Private Investment Corpora- 
tion (OPIC), 143 



P.L. 480 Title I program (United States) , 
135 

Pale of Settlement, 32-33, 121 

Palyessye. See Belarusian Woodland 

Partitions of Poland, 15 

Partnership for Peace program (NATO) : 
and Belarus, 82, 88; and Moldova, 112 

Party of Communists of Belarus (see also 
Communist Party of Belorussia) , 75 

Party of People's Accord (Belarus) , 77 

Party of Rebirth and Conciliation (Mol- 
dova) , xxiv-xv 

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (see 
also Russian Orthodox Church) (Mol- 
dova), 123 

patrimonial bonds (vouchers): in Mol- 
dova, 131-32 

Paznyak, Zyanon, 65, 69, 75 

PCB. See Party of Communists of Belarus 

peacekeeping forces: in Transnistria, 
111, 170, 177 

Pechenegs, 105 

Pension Fund (Moldova), 128 

Pension Law (1993) (Belarus), 42 

pensions: in Belarus, 30-31, 42; in Mol- 
dova, 128 

Pentecostal Church: in Belarus, 36; in 

Moldova, 124 
perestroika: in Belorussia, 24-25; Belorus- 

sian language and, 35; in Moldavian 



SSR, 108, 144; and religion, 36 
periodicals: in Belarus, 77; in Moldova, 
166 

pesticides: in Belarus, 30; in Moldova, 
114, 127 

Pilsudskijozef, 21 

Pinsk (Belarus), 38, 59 

Pivdennyy Buh River (Ukraine), 107 

Poland: Belorussian territory under, 19- 
20, 21; ethnic Belarusians in, 30, 81; 
partitions of, 15; relations with 
Belarus, 81; Solidarity trade union, 
xxiii; trade with Belarus, 62, 64; trade 
with Moldova, 143; transport agree- 
ments with Belarus, 60; zone of coop- 
eration, 88 

Polatsk (principality), 14 

Polatsk oil refinery (Belarus) , 54 

police: in Moldova, 165, 177 

Polish Democratic Union (Belarus) , 77 

Polish language, 33 

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 14, 
39 

Polish people: in Belarus, 31, 32, 81; in 
Belorussia in World War II, 23; in Mol- 
dova, 99, 117, 122 

Polish-Soviet War, 19 

political apathy: in Belarus, xxi, 25 

political expression: in Moldova, 108-10 

political parties (see also under individual 
parties): in Belarus, 69-70, 75-77; in 
Moldova, 149-52 

pollution: in Belarus, 29-30 

Polonizing, 15, 21 

Popular Front. See Moldovan Popular 
Front 

population statistics: of Belarus, 30-31; 
of Moldova, 115-17 

power production equipment: in Mol- 
dova, 138 

Prashkovich, Mykola, 24 

Presidium: (of the Supreme Soviet) 
Belarus, 71; (of the Moldovan Parlia- 
ment), 145 

Priorbank (Belarus), 57 

prisons: in Belarus, 90-91; in Moldova, 
165 

privatization in Belarus, xxi, 46-47; 

resistance to, 47, 67 
privatization in Moldova, xxi, 129, 131- 

32, 164; United States interest in, 136 
Procuracy (Belarus) , 73, 74 



244 



Index 



Procuracy (Moldova) (see also General 

Prosecution Office), 148 
procurator general (Belarus), 71, 73, 74 
Program for Privatization for 1 995-1 996 

(Moldova), 131 
Program of Activity of the Government 

of Moldova for 1992-1995, 131 
Program of Activity of the Government 

of Moldova for 1994-1997, 131 
prosecutor general (Moldova), 148 
Prosvita (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
Protestants: in Belarus, 36, 39 
Prussia: Belorussian territory ceded to, 

15 

Prut River (Moldova), 105, 106, 113-14, 
140 

Prypyats' River (Belarus), 28, 59 

public opinion poll (1994) (Moldova), 

111, 163, 169 
pushcha/pushchy (Belarus) , 28 

Rabochiy Tiraspol' (newspaper) (Mol- 
dova), 166 
Rada. SeeAll-Belarusian Congress 
radio: in Belarus, 61; in Moldova, 141 
Radioteleviziunea Nationala (Moldova), 
141 

railroads: in Belarus, 58-59; in Moldova, 
140 

raion/ raioane (Moldova) , 149, 152, 158 
rayon/rayony (Belarus) , 74 
Red Army (Soviet), 21, 22, 23 
Red Cross, International Committee of 
the, 165 

referendum of 1990 (Belarus), 25 
referendum of 1995 (Belarus), xix, xxii, 
35,70 

Reform Party (Moldova), 151 
religion: in Belarus, 36-39; in Moldova, 
123-24 

Republic Center on AIDS (Belarus) , 42 
Republican Party (Belarus), 77 
Republican Party (Moldova), 151 
Republic Guard (Transnistria) , 165 
Republic of Belarus, 25, 26, 66 
Republic of Moldova, 110, 144 
Republic's Voters Meeting (Moldova), 
154 

Reserve Fund (Moldova) , 1 28 
Revolution of 1905, 17 
Ribnita (Moldova), 138, 156 



roads: in Belarus, 59; in Moldova, 140 
Rodno slovo (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
Roma (Gypsy) people: in Moldova, 99, 
117, 122 

Roman Catholic Church: in Belarus, 36, 
38; conflicts with Orthodoxy, 38; offi- 
cial religion of Lithuania, 14; Polish 
Catholics in Belorussia/Belarus, 18, 
21, 32, 38, 81 

Roman Empire, 105 

Romania: birth rate in, 115; and conflict 
in Transnistria, 159; death rate in, 115; 
Moldovan foreign relations and, 1 68- 
69; Moldovan reunification with, xix, 
xxii; origins of culture, 124-25; rail 
links with Moldova, 140; Russia's for- 
eign relations and, 169; trade with 
Moldova, 143; in World War II, 107 

Romanian language: Moldovan as dia- 
lect of, 112, 121; in Moldovan educa- 
tion, 126-27; as mother tongue, 122; 
in proposed Romanian Republic of 
Moldova, 158 

Romanian Orthodox Church, 123 

Romanian people: in Chisinau, 115; con- 
descension to Moldovans by, 167; in 
Moldova, xix, 105, 107-8, 115, 116, 
117-119; in Moldovan political par- 
ties, 150-51; opposition from Transni- 
stria to, 109-10; purged, 108, 119; 
territorial claims and, 173 

Romanian Republic of Moldova (pro- 
posed), 158 

Russia: Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, 18, 
106; buffer zones, xix; Chornobyl' 
accident and, 29; Civil War, 121; cul- 
tural influences on Moldova, 125; cus- 
toms union with Belarus, 57, 80, 87; 
electricity to Belarus from, 56; ethnic 
Belarusians in, 30; military ratio, 83; 
mediation in Transnistria, 159; and 
Minsk Agreement, 66; monetary and 
economic union with Belarus, 57, 80; 
nationalism in, 172; objection to 
NATO expansion, 88; relations with 
Belarus, 79; relations with Ukraine, 
80; Revolution of 1905, 17; Russian 
State Duma, xxv, 172; Russo-Japanese 
War, 17; as trading partner with 
Belarus, 63; as trading partner with 
Moldova, 143; treaty of 1995 with 
Belarus, 68-69 



245 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



Russian Civil War, 121 
Russian Drama and Comedy Theater, 
126 

Russian Empire: Belorussia within, 15- 

18, 33; Moldovan/Moldavian terri- 
tory within, 106 

Russian 14th Army (Moldova) (see also 

Soviet 14th Army), xxiv, 170, 172; 

agreement on withdrawal of, xxv, 145; 

intervention in Transnistrian Conflict, 

110, 170; strength in 1994, 176-77; 

support for Transnistrian separatism, 

159; Ukraine and, 173 
Russianization, in Moldavia/Moldova, 

121 

Russian language in Belorussia/Belarus: 
in broadcasting, 61; Belorussian/ 
Belarusian education and, 41; as East 
Slavic language, 33; in interethnic 
communication, 71; as official lan- 
guage, xix, xxii, 35-36 

Russian language in Moldavia/Moldova: 
in broadcasting, 141; education and, 
126-27; in interethnic communica- 
tion, 122-23; guaranteed in 1994 con- 
stitution, 145; as mother tongue, 122; 
nationalist movement and, 152; Yedin- 
stvo and, 152 

Russian military presence in Belarus, 
79-80, 83-84; described, 88-89; Luka- 
shyenka and, 68; nuclear weapons 
and, 87 

Russian military presence in Moldova 
(see also Russian 14th Army), 112; 
agreement on withdrawal of, xxv, 112, 
172; General Lebed' and, xxiv; in 
Transnistria, 170-72 

Russian Orthodox Church, 18, 36, 38, 
123, 124; Patriarch of Moscow and All 
Russia, xxxiii 

Russian people: in Belarus, 31; in Molda- 
via/Moldova, 105, 106, 115, 116, 117, 
119, 169-70, 172; in Transnistria, 107 

Russian State Duma, xxv, 1 72 

Russian Television, 61 

Russification in Belorussia/Belarus: 
Belorussian/Belarusian language and, 

19, 31; under Stalin, 23-24; Chorno- 
byl' accident and, 13; under Nicholas 
I, 15 

Russification in Moldavian/Moldova, 
107, 119, 121-22 



Russkoye slovo (periodicial) (Moldova), 
166 

Russo-Japanese War, 17 
Russo-Turkish War (1806-12), 106 



Sangheli, Andrei: as prime minister of 
Moldova, 147, 160, 163; scheduled 
elections of 1996 and, xxiv 

Savings Bank (Sbyerbank) (Belarus), 
47,57 

Sbyerbank. See Savings Bank 

schools: in Belarus, xxiii, 41; in Moldova, 

126-27 
Sejm, 20, 21 

separatism: in Moldova, 158-64, 170, 172 

Serbia and Montenegro, 143 

Seventh-Day Adventist Church: in 
Belarus, 36; in Moldova, 124 

Sfatul Tarii. ^National Council 

Sfatul tarii (newspaper) (Moldova), 166 

Shushkyevich, Stanislaw, 26; Chornobyl' 
issue and, 81; dismissed, 88; indepen- 
dence and, 66; ousted, 67; relations 
with United States and, 80; treaty with 
Poland and, 81 

Siberia: deportations from Belorussia, 
16,19, 23 

Sigismund III, 14 

Siretul River (Romania), 106 

Skaryna, Frantsishak, 40 

Slavic people, xix, 105 

Slutsk (Belarus), 40 

Smirnov, Igor' N., 110, 111; appeals for 
recognition of "Dnestr Republic" by, 
xxv-xxvi 

Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant (Russia) , 

56 

Snegur, Mircea: armed forces and, 174; 
foreign policy speech controversy of, 
160; language issues and, 112, 123; 
NATO agreement and, 112; peace 
negotiations in Transnistria and, 111, 
145, 170; political alignments of, 154- 
55; as president of Moldova, 147; 
scheduled elections of 1996 and, xxiv- 
xxv; signing of Minsk agreement, 168; 
Transnistrian separatism and, 159; in 
the United States, 174 
Social Assistance Fund (Moldova), 128 
Social Democratic Party of Moldova, 151 
Social Insurance Fund (Moldova), 128 



246 



Index 



Socialist Revolutionary Party (Belorus- 
sia) , 1 8 

Socialist Workers' Party (Moldova), 151— 
52 

Social Security Fund (SSF) (Moldova), 
128 

social welfare: in Belarus, 30-31, 42-44, 

56; in Moldova, 167 
Society for Jewish Culture (Moldova), 

124 

Sociology Center of the Belarusian State 
University, 35 

soil erosion: in Moldova, 114-15 

Solidarity (trade union), xxiii 

Southwestern Theater of Military Opera- 
tions, 110, 111 

Sovetskaya Belorussiya (newspaper) 
(Belarus) , 77 

Sovetskaya Moldaviya. See Soviet Molda- 
via 

Soviet 14th Army (see also Russian 14th 
Army) , xxiv, 110 

Soviet Moldavia (Sovetskaya Moldaviya) 
faction, 156, 158 

Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova: cre- 
ated, 110, 119, 158 

Soviet Union, xix, 19, 106, 121, 143-144, 
154 

Sozh River (Belarus), 28 
Spain: trade with Moldova, 143 
spelling conventions: Belarusian, xiii- 

xiv; Moldovan, xiv-xv 
SSF. See Social Security Fund 
St. Petersburg TV, 61 
Stalin, Joseph V.: atrocities in Belorussia, 

13, 20, 25; "Moldavian" language and, 

121-22 

START I. See Strategic Arms Reduction 
Treaty 

State Bank. SeeGosbank 

State Committee for Chornobyl' 
(Belarus) , 29 

State Committee on Precious Metals and 
Precious Stones (Belarus) , 63 

State Committee on Privatization 
(Belarus), 46 

State Customs Committee (Belarus), 71 

State Department for Privatization (Mol- 
dova), 131 

state farms: in Belarus, 47-49; in Mol- 
dova, 132, 133 

State Program of Privatization (1993) 



(Belarus) , 46-47 
State Security Committee (Belarus) , 71 
Stefan eel Mare. See Stephen the Great 
Stephen the Great (Stefan eel Mare), 

106 

steppes, 15, 114 

stock exchange: in Belarus, 57 

Straseni (Moldova), 141 

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 

(START I): and Belarus, 80, 87 
strikes (see also demonstrations): in 

Belarus in April 1991, 25; of subway 

workers in Minsk in 1995, xxiii 
subsidies: in Belarus, xx, 50; in Moldova, 

xx, 139 

Sud-Est (periodical) (Moldova), 166 
suffrage: in Belarus, 71; in Moldova, 147 
Supreme Court (Belarus) , 73 
Supreme Court (Moldova), 148 
Supreme Economic Court (Belarus) , 74 
Supreme Soviet of Belorussia/Belarus: 
CIS security treaty and, 82, 88; corrup- 
tion charges in, 90; on currency; 58; 
electoral apathy and, 69-70; fuel 
agreements and, 53-54; functions and 
size of, 71; independence and, 25-26; 
Lukashyenka and, xxiii; official lan- 
guage and, 35; opposition to, 66; 
opposition to Yeltsin's reforms, 66; 
privatization and, 46 
Supreme Soviet of Moldavia/Moldova 
(see also Moldovan Parliament), 110, 
144 

Sviontak, Kazimir, 38 

Sweden: Chornobyl' atmospheric radia- 
tion in, 29; trade with Moldova, 143 

Switzerland: economic assistance to 
Belarus, 60; trade with Belarus, 63 



Tara (newspaper) (Moldova), 166 
Tatar people: in Belorussia/Belarus, 14, 

31, 39: in Moldova, 105 
telecommunications: in Belarus, 61; in 

Moldova, 140-41 
telephones: in Belarus, 61; in Moldova, 

140^1 

television: in Belarus, 61; in Moldova, 
141 

Televiziunea Romana, 141 

theater: in Belarus, 40; in Moldova, 126 

Tighina (Bender; Bendery) (Moldova), 



247 



Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies 



112, 116, 172; demonstrations in, 156; 
as municipality, 149; railroads at, 140; 
Russians in, 119; violence in, 159-60 

Tineretul Moldovei/Molodezh Moldovy 
(newspaper) (Moldova) , 1 66 

Tiraspol, 115-16; bread rationing in, 
xxv; as capital of Moldavian ASSR, 
107; as capital of "Dnestr Moldavian 
Republic," 110, 159; demonstrations 
in, 156; industrial development in, 
129; as municipality, 149; Russians in, 
119 

Tiraspol Six, 165 
Topal, Stepan, 110, 111 
topography: of Belarus, 26, 28; of Mol- 
dova, 113 

trade (Belarus): with CIS nations, 61-64; 
with non-CIS nations, 63 

trade (Moldova), 131, 132, 135, 142; with 
CIS nations, 142, 143; with former 
Soviet republics, 141-43; with non-CIS 
nations, 143 

trade unions, foreign, xxiii 

Transnistria (see also "Dnestr Moldavian 
Republic"; Russian 14th Army), xix- 
xx, 145, 170; autonomy under consti- 
tution of 1994, 163-64; cease-fire of 
1992, 111, 145; civil war of 1992, 159- 
60; elections of 1994 in, 111; energy 
resources in, 138; ethnic minorities in, 
117, 119; and Gagauz conflict, 159; 
history of, 105, 125; human rights in, 
165; industrial development, 129; Jews 
in, 121; media censorship in, 164; 
Moldovan military and, 170; peace- 
keeping forces, 111, 170, 177; as pro- 
Russian, 152; separatism, xix-xx, 154; 
standards of living in, 128; topography 
of, 113; Ukraine and, 173 

transportation: in Belarus, 58-60, 82; in 
Moldova, 140 

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918), 18 

Treaty of Bucharest (1812), 106 

Treaty of Iasi (1792), 106 

Treaty of Riga (1921), 19 

Treaty on Collective Security (1992) 
(CIS), 82, 88 

Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation 
(1995), 68-69 

Turkey: joint ventures with Moldova, 
143; relations with Moldova, 173-74 

Turkish people: in Moldova, 105, 106 



Turkmenistan: and CIS, 168 



Ukraine: Chornobyl' issue and, 80-81; 
CIS agreement and, 168; conflict in 
Transnistria and, 159; connected to 
Moldova by landline link, 141; ethnic 
Belarusians in, 30; independence of, 
25, 64, 65; and Minsk Agreement, 66; 
Moldavian Autonomous Oblast and, 
106-7; rail links with Moldova, 140; 
relations with Belarus, 80-81; as trad- 
ing partner with Belarus, 63, 143; 
under Lithuania, 14; military ratio, 83; 
nuclear disarmament, 87; zone of 
cooperation, 88 

Ukrainian language, 33, 122, 141 

Ukrainian people: in Belarus, 31, 32; in 
Moldavia/Moldova, 99, 105, 107, 115, 
116,117,119,124,173 

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 106 

Ulmanis, Guntis, 82 

underemployment: in Belarus, 56 

Undzer col/Nash golos (periodical) (Mol- 
dova) , 1 66 

unemployment: in Belarus, 43, 56; in 
Moldova, 133 

Unemployment Fund (Moldova), 128 

Ungheni (Moldova), 138, 140, 141 

Uniate Church, 36; history of, 14-15; in 
Moldova, 124; use of Belarusian/ 
Belorussian language, 38-39 

Union of Belorussian Youth, 22 

Union of Brest (1596), 14-15 

Union ofKrevo (1385), 14 

Union of Lublin (1569), 14 

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. See 
Soviet Union 

Union of Writers of Moldova, 1 66 

United Democratic Party of Belarus, 75- 
76 

United Nations: Belarus's membership 
in, 78; Moldova's membership in, 165, 
168; Transnistrian conflict and, 112 

United States: assistance to Moldova, 
135-36; relations with Belarus, 78, 80; 
trade unions and Belarus, xxiii; immi- 
gration from Belorussia, 16, 30; trade 
with Belarus, 63; trade with Moldova, 
143; visit by Snegur, 174 

United States Central Intelligence 
Agency, 79 



248 



Index 



United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, 135 

urbanization: in Belarus, 31; in Moldova, 
116-17 



Vatican, 39 

Vechernyy Minsk (newspaper) (Belarus), 
77 

Viata satului (newspaper) (Moldova), 
166 

Viata Satului legislative club (Moldova), 
161 

Victims of Totalitarian Repression (Mol- 
dova), 151 
Victoriabanc (Moldova), 139 
Vieru, Grigore, 126 

Vietnam: joint ventures with Moldova, 
143 

Vilnius (Lithuania) , 82 
Vistula River (Poland) , 28 
Vitsyebsk (Belarus), 22, 31, 86 
voblasts' '/voblastsi (Belarus) , 74 
Volyn-Podolian Upland (Moldova, 

Ukraine), 113 
Vulcanesti (Moldova), 119 



Walachia, 106 
Walesa, Lech, 81 
Warsaw Pact, 83 

waterways, inland: in Belarus, 28, 59-60; 
in Moldova, 140 

Weissruthenische Generalbezirk, 22 

welfare: in Belarus, 42-44 

women: in Belarus, 31, 84, 85; in Mol- 
dova, 117 



Women's Association of Moldova, 151 
work force: in Belarus, 56, 62, 64; in 

Moldova, 117, 133 
World Bank: Belarus and, 64, 78; Mold- 
ova and, 143, 144, 168 
World Reunion of Belarusians, 79 
World Trade Organization: (WTO) (see 
also General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade): Belarus's status in, 78; Mold- 
ova's status in, 168 
World War I: in Belorussia, 18; in Molda- 
via, 121 

World War II: in Belorussia, 21-23, 36, 
79; and industrial base in Belorussia, 
52; in Moldavia, 107; population losses 
in Belorussia, 20, 31, 33, 39 



Yaroslav the Wise (Prince), 14 

Yedinstvo. See Yedinstvo-Unitatea Inter- 
movement 

Yedinstvo/Socialist Bloc (Moldova), 151 

Yedinstvo-Unitatea Intermovement 
(Moldova), 110, 152, 155, 158 

Yeltsin, Boris N.: Moldovan government 
support for in August 1991 coup 
d'etat, 111; Transnistrian cease-fire 
negotiated, 145; Transnistrian leader- 
ship's opposition to, 170; reforms in 
Russia under, 66 

Yevnevich, Valeriy, xxiv, xxv 

Yiddish language, 35, 141 

zaychyk (currency) exchange rate 

(Belarus) ,58 
Zvyazda (newspaper) (Belarus), 77 



249 



Contributors 



William E. Crowther is Assistant Professor of Political Science, 
Department of Political Science, University of North Caro- 
lina, Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Helen Fedor is a Senior Research Specialist for Central Europe 
and Central Eurasia with the Federal Research Division, 
Library of Congress. 

Jan Zaprudnik is a former commentator on Soviet and interna- 
tional politics with Radio Liberty. 



251 



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253 



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